Sunday Sweets...

By popular demand, I'm giving you the recipe for the brownies I made this week as well...

Why? Because I'm a nice person like that... Sheesh!

They looik and smell even more delicious in person...

I call these my "Delayed Gratification Brownies".  They really do need to be made the night before.  If you're an edge person (not your personality, your brownie preference, Silly...), these are the brownies for you.  If you're more of a gooey center, you might want to skip this one....

A lot of my comments on ingredients were covered in my earlier post "Gimme Some Sugar".  I'll put a star next to something if you should go back and look at it for the comment rather than re-post the exact same wording in this post.

The basic ingredient list, etc. came from the same book as the lemon bars too...

And here we go...


Delayed Gratification Brownies

Ingredients:

2 Sticks of unsalted butter *

3 oz of unsweetened chocolate -- (It's important that you get the right one.  Not eating chocolate, not chocolate chips, not bittersweet, semisweet, sweetened or any other name.... ONLY unsweetened chocolate.  You can find it in the baking section of most grocery stores.  The brand name that I see it under most often is "Bakers.")

4 large eggs *

1/2 t (teaspoon) of salt

1 t (teaspoon) of vanilla extract *

2 cups of sugar -- (table sugar, not confectioners)

1 cup of all purpose flour *

1 cup (6 oz) of semisweet chocolate chips -- (Now, here is where you're allowed to be creative.  You want butterscotch chips, go ahead.  You want white chocolate chips, rock on.  You want to add a few more chips, two different kinds, etc., go with my blessing.  Enjoy yourself.)

1 cup (4 oz) of chopped pecans or walnuts -- (If you don't want nuts, don't put them in.  It's not essential)

Other stuff you'll need:

9x13x2 pan

Parchment paper (or foil) *

Butter for greasing the pan

Whisk -- (or a fork, but a whisk really is easier)

Rubber or silicone spatula

Oven thermometer *

Saucepan -- (Not an omelette pan.  Think small pot.  Not THAT kind of pot.  The kind you cook in.)
If you're newly clean, you may want another person (some of the instructions require you to be coordinated with both hands)

Prep:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Chop up the unsweetened chocolate into 1/4 inch chunks and put to the side.  Roughly chop the nuts (Yes.  Even if you bought chopped nuts.  They should be kind of small, not powder, but small.)  Prepare a 9x13x2 pan (instructions in lemon bar recipe)*

Instructions:

Put your saucepan on the stove and, over medium heat, melt the 2 sticks of butter (No, melting it on high is not the same.  Resist the urge to turn the stove to high.  Yes, I know.  Why do you think I know?  Psychic...[rolling eyes and grinning] Also, not in the microwave.  Butter scorches pretty easily, better to melt slowly on medium heat.  Just do it.) 

Once the butter is all the way melted, turn off the heat.  With one hand, start whisking (beating with a whisk or fork, like you would beat eggs for an omelette...) the butter.  With the other, add the chocolate.  Keep whisking until all the chocolate is melted in.  Let the mixture cool down a little while you do the next step.  (If you don't wait, you'll end up with chocolate scrambled eggs.... And while I'm a huge chocoholic, even I can't get behind chocolate scrambled eggs.)

While you're waiting, combine the eggs, salt and vanilla extract in a bowl, just lightly.  Then, while whisking with one hand, pour the sugar into the mix in a constant slow stream (see, I told you coordination was important).  Once all the sugar is incorporated, go ahead and add the chocolate mixture the same way you were supposed to add the sugar. 

All together?  I'll wait.  Now?  Ok.  On to the next step.

Put the whisk or fork down.  No.  Don't touch.  Put it down.  You're done with it. 

Pick up the rubber or silicone spatula.  Dump in all the flour at once.  With the spatula, fold in the flour.  (Let me see if I can explain folding... don't stir, don't mix, don't blend.... take the spatula, scoop from the center bottom over the top.  Do that over and over and over and over and over and over and over until all the flour is incorporated into the mix.  Try to be patient.  If you do it the other way, you'll have flat, hard brownies.)

Let the mix cool until room temperature.  It probably takes about 15 minutes.  Go clean up or something while you wait.  Check the temperature with a very clean finger. 

Once it's cooled enough, add the chips and nuts and fold them in.  Once mixed, scrape all the batter out into the pan so it's evenly distributed all the way to the edges.

Put in the oven for 30-35 minutes.  (I'd check them around 30.  Take a toothpick and poke it in the center of the pan.  If it comes out "clean", they're done.  (By the way, clean means without gooey stuff, not completely unmarked.))

Let them cool completely to room temperature.  After cooling, wrap the entire pan of brownies in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge overnight (It will make it much easier to cut them.  See why I call them "Delayed Gratification Brownies"?)

The next day, take out the whole pan and remove the brownies in one piece.  Carefully remove the parchment paper (or foil) and put on a cutting board.  Cut into 2" squares.

Now, you can eat them... Try not to eat the whole pan in one sitting...

Enjoy!

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