"So Fudging Good" Brownies

Seriously, they are good.

I know, I know, everyone has the best brownie recipe. I have tried many brownie recipes over the years that promised fabulous things. Some of them were cakey, some were fudgey, some were both cakey and fudgey. Some had walnuts, or chocolate chips, or caramel, or frosting, but none come even close to these delicious, rich, satisfying brownies.

We eat them warm with mint chip ice cream at home. They are great for a midwest potluck or a post surf session snack. We bring them to the surf break to mess with our friend’s vegan raw food gluten free diets; no one can resist.

Ingredients

3 sticks unsalted butter 
1 cup finely chopped dark chocolate (about 72%) (6 ounces) 
1 cup all-purpose flour (4 1/2 ounces)
1 1/3 cups Dutch-process cocoa powder (4 ounces)
2 1/4 cup granulated sugar (16 ounces)
1/4 cup light brown sugar (2 ounces)
1 3/4 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
6 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract 
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder, such as Medaglia d’Oro (optional but highly recommended to bring out the chocolate flavor)

Instructions

1. Preheat to 350°F. Spray a 9- by 13- by 2-inch baking pan and line with parchment paper to cover the bottom and long sides of the pan. (It's all right to leave the short sides exposed.)

2. In heavy bottomed pan, melt butter over medium heat. Brown the butter by continuing to cook and stir, scraping up any brown bits, until butter is a deep golden brown and no longer sizzling and snapping. Remove from heat and stir in dark chocolate, stirring occasionally until it melts completely and is smooth.

3. In medium bowl, stir together flour and cocoa powder. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, eggs, vanilla, and instant espresso and use hand mixer on medium-high to whip until extremely thick and fluffy, up to eight minutes (although I usually only have the patience for five). You can also use a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Use visual clues rather than time here to judge when it is fluffy.

4. Reduce mixer speed to low and pour in the warm chocolate-butter from the pan, making sure to scrape the bottom. Once it is fully mixed in, add cocoa-flour mixture and continue mixing just until combined. Scrape the edges with a spatula to make sure everything is mixed in.

5. Pour into prepared pan and bake until brownies are glossy and just barely firm, about 30 minutes, or to an internal temperature of 205°. I use a glass pan and different pans will lead to different baking times, so I highly recommend using the thermometer to determine doneness. If over baked, these are still lovely but they are truly transcendent at 205.°

6. Cool brownies in the pan to room temperature. Slide a butter knife between the brownies and the short ends of the pan and gently lift the two long sides of the parchment to remove the brownies from the pan (a team lift is helpful). Cut into squares or just hew off wedges as needed. Store covered. If you want perfectly square brownies, cut off the edges before slicing into squares. This also allows you to eat all the crispy edgy bits when no one is looking.