Quality chocolate is the key to these fudgy, made-from-scratch brownies
Comfort food: It’s the name of the game in these uncertain times. Unfortunately, I’ve been finding solace in King Arthur’s Gluten Free Brownies. Truth be told, I’d rather be eating this week’s recipe for Robert’s Absolute Best Brownies.
These aren’t your run-of-the-mill box brownies. They’re a grown-up, delicious brownies made from scratch. You might wonder who in the world this “Robert” guy is and why he claims his brownies are the “Absolute Best.” Well that Robert co-founded Scharffen Berger chocolate, a fancy San Francisco chocolatier, in 1997. Even if you don’t have this particular fancy chocolate, just buy the best chocolate you can get. Quality ingredients matter, especially when it comes to chocolate.
Brownies are perhaps my No. 1 cannot-resist dessert and are right up there with doughnuts. Chocolate seems to be my solace at the moment, and it needs to end soon. But why not whip up a batch of these in the meantime?
The recipe comes from David Lebovitz’s “Ready for Dessert” cookbook, which is chock-full of excellent desserts. Another favorite from this book is his Brown Sugar-Pecan Shortbread. If you aren’t familiar with Lebovitz, check out his incredible food and all-things-French blog at https://www.davidlebovitz.com. He’s written many, many incredible cookbooks and a couple of books about being an ex-pat who resides in Paris. His newest book, “Drinking French,” looks to be the next vice I’ll have to quit. For the life of me, I cannot understand how Lebovitz is so slender.
Next week, we’ll be back to dinner recipes. It just felt like we all needed a bit of fudgy goodness to hold us over. Stay well, readers.
Robert’s Absolute Best Brownies
6 tablespoons unsalted or salted butter, cut into pieces
8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts or pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the inside of a 9-inch square pan with 2 lengths of foil, positioning the sheets perpendicular to each other and allowing excess to extend beyond the edges of the pan. Or use one large sheet of extra wide foil or parchment paper. Lightly grease the foil or parchment paper with butter or nonstick cooking spray.
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter, then add the chocolate and stir over low heat until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and vanilla until combined. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the flour and stir energetically for one full minute, until the batter loses its graininess, becomes smooth and glossy, and pulls away a bit from the sides of the saucepan. Stir in the chopped nuts.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the center feels almost set, about 30 minutes. Don’t over bake.
Let cool completely in the pan before lifting out the foil or parchment to remove brownies.
Storage: These brownies will keep well for up to 4 days and can be frozen for 1 month.
“Ready for Dessert,” David Lebovitz
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