Martha and Me: Brownies

Brownies are a great dessert often overshadowed by more complex pies, cakes and cookies. A classic recipe, brownies are

delicious, warm and gooey. Equally appealing alone or accompanied by ice cream, caramel, nuts or other tasty treats, what’s not to love about them?

 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan or heatproof glass dish. Line pan with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang on 2 sides. Set aside. Place butter and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl set over (but not touching) simmering water; stir frequently until chocolate and butter are melted, about 7 minutes. Remove bowl from heat; let cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Stir sugar into cooled chocolate mixture until combined. Whisk in eggs one at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Whisk in vanilla. Gently fold in flour and salt.
3. Pour batter into prepared pan, and smooth top with an offset spatula. Bake until cake tester inserted in the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. Run a knife or offset spatula around the edges of the pan. Using parchment, lift brownies out of pan and onto the rack. Transfer to a cutting board; cut into 2-inch squares.

Making these brownies was as easy as making brownies from a box. They came together very quickly and without any problems.

While melting the chocolate over the simmering water it is VERY important to have a heat proof bowl and to not let the bowl touch the water. If the bowl touches the water it could burn the chocolate, and nothing tastes or smells worse! It is also important to keep an eye on the chocolate because you want to make sure that it tempers correctly.

After cooling the chocolate and mixing the ingredients together there was a nice smooth batter and it was time to bake. I baked mine for 41 minutes and they came out perfect! This brownie recipe is one of the easiest recipes I have ever done.

I had five people taste the Brownies and rate them on a scale of one to five, with one being the lowest five being the highest- on overall taste, texture, appearance, quality, and willingness to try making recipe. I also had them make comments on what they would change about the brownies.

I had five people taste test this dessert and rank it on a 1-5 scale in the following categories: Overall Taste, Texture, Appearance and Quality.

The brownies earned straight fives and I would have to say I agree.