It occurred to me that while I’ve made blondies several times, I haven’t tried brownies in a very long while. That’s because of my memory of the last time I tried; the recipe seemed overly complicated and they only turned out so-so.

But that was in my far distant youth. Maybe it was time it give them another go.

The recipe in the America’s Test Kitchen cookbook seemed quite approachable, and in fact, it turned out to be one the easiest baking recipes that I’ve worked on recently. That’s because it had relatively few ingredients, so it didn’t overwhelm my space challenged kitchen counter.

As per usual, I tried a few substitutions, partly due to lack of ingredients and partly because I’m me.

The recipe called for cake flour, and although I have several varieties of flour in the house, none of them is cake flour. And it didn’t seem worthwhile to buy a sack of it just for the cup and a quarter called for in this recipe. So I used one cup of all purpose and a quarter cup of oat bran.

The recipe optionally called for a cup of either pecans or walnuts. I had a few pecans left over, so I used those and made up the rest of the cup with walnuts. Simple. I like them both. Oh, and I put half the nuts into the batter and sprinkled the rest on top. The recipe says to sprinkle them all on top.

The recipe calls for making a sling in your baking pan with perpendicular pieces of foil, pressing them down into the corners, and then spraying with Pam. Makes it easy to remove the brownies and saves on cleanup. Slicing them is simpler, too.

Ingredients

1¼ cups (5 ounces) cake flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon table salt
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
12 tablespoons unsalted butter
2¼ cups (15¾ ounces) sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup (4 ounces) pecans or walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)

Instructions

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a 13 by 9-inch baking pan with 2 pieces of foil and spray with vegetable oil spray.

2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl until combined; set aside.

3. Melt the chocolate and butter in a medium heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Off the heat, gradually whisk in the sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition, until thoroughly combined. Whisk in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture in three additions, folding with a rubber spatula until the batter is completely smooth and homogeneous.

4. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan; using a spatula, spread the batter into the corners of the pan and smooth the surface. Sprinkle the toasted nuts (if using) evenly over the batter. Bake until a toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours; loosen the edges with a paring knife and lift the brownies from the pan using the foil sling. Cut the brownies into 2-inch squares and serve. (The brownies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.)

While they were cooling, they filled the house with the most wonderful chocolatey aroma.

I went for a walk and saw a neighbor and his invalid sister sitting outside enjoying the spring-like weather, so I decided to give them some of the brownies if they turned out as tasty as I thought they would.

At lunchtime I tried one. And— 

Oh. My. God!!!!!

Unbelievable rich chocolate flavor with the nuts adding just a little crunch and additional flavor. They were truly superb.

So of course I decided to keep them all for myself.

I’ll share some of the next batch.

 

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