Salty Fudge Brownies

August 26, 2012


I'm not a chocoholic, but every now and then people need brownies the way a cat needs her catnip.

They're a guilty pleasure. The kind that makes us want to stretch out in the sun and purrr with happiness, just before taking a smug little nap.

I love to enjoy my brownie(s) with a tall glass of milk and small dose of privacy. (Please. At least for 10 minutes.)


These are proper brownies. Not the boring kind of proper, but the very naughty, fudgy, salty, I'm-skipping-my-workout (and lovin' it!), kind of proper.

I was so twitchy with anticipation, that I didn't bother to go out and buy the required Maldon salt. Instead I used regular, under-rated coarse sea salt. The results were stellar. I don't think it would be possible to surpass the amount of goodness that took place in my mouth after biting into these darlings.

Since the brownies are on the decadently rich end of the chocolate spectrum, I recommend hoarding the entire 9 x 9-inch pan. Inhale the love somewhere quite and safe, and where you can easily plot a ninja-like path to the fridge for extra cold milk.



Salty Fudge Brownies
makes about 12-14 brownies

ingredients
12 Tablespoons (that's 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into about 8 pieces
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
2 cups sugar
3 room temperature eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon Maldon salt (any flaked or coarse sea salt is fine)

method
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly butter a foil-lined, 9 x 9-inch square baking pan.
Create a double boiler: Combine butter and the 2 ounces of chopped chocolate in a large heat-proof bowl. Set the bowl over a saucepan that's filled with about 1-inch of simmering water. (Make sure that the bowl is not touching the water.) Stirring occasionally, melt the butter and chocolate together until smooth. Remove the bowl from the saucepan.
To the bowl of melted butter and chocolate; One at a time, add the cocoa, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and flour. Whisk well after each addition.
Pour the batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle the salt in an even layer and use a butter knife to gently swirl the salt into the batter.
Bake for 35 minutes, or until the edges are set and only a few moist crumbs remain on a toothpick inserted into the center. *{Note: My brownies took an extra agonizing 15 minutes to bake. If you notice that the edges are baked before the center is ready, cover them lightly with foil.}
Remove the pan from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Cool at room temperature for about 1 hour, and then place the pan into the fridge for at least 3 hours before slicing.

*Because I didn't have any foil to cover the pan, my brownie edges were a bit too toasty. I sliced off the crispy parts, crumbled them up, and sprinkled them over the fudgy parts. Also, I added more salt for the sake of photography. (And because I love salt.)

adapted from food & wine

23 comments:

  1. Your brownies look delicious, and perfect! Love sea salt with anything chocolate...these sound amazing :)!

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  2. A lovely quote. Those brownies look so sinful. The fudgier the better!!!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  3. You could tempt me to the chocolate side with these brownies. Love the quote!

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  4. I love your styling! These brownies look like decadent squares of heaven - salted chocolate is so my thing!

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  5. First of all, those look and sound amazing! Second, if I didn't know you used a Point and Shoot I would not realize... great photos!

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  6. I love a bit of saltiness in desserts. How delicious!

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  7. @Lauren, Thanks! My camera and I have a bit of a love-hate relationship. (I only love it when it ignores the fact that I don't know what I'm doing.) ;)

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  8. Irresistible brownies! I saw your Tweet about your photos and wanted to say that I like them! The brownies look scrumptious! Framing them with the black and white cupcake liners is perfect!

    I used a P&S for the first 6 months of blogging and It forced me to learn more about using the camera I had, composition and lighting for food photography. I had accumulated a wealth of knowledge when I finally bought my DSL. And to my utter suprize, I still get positive comments on some (some!) of my early photos. Keep the faith and carry on!

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  9. @Deb, Thanks for the tips! (And the encouragement.) :)

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  10. Lovely blog! These brownies look gorgeous. I literally just made brownies, but I might have to cheat and make a batch of these :)

    I also checked out your "meet the baker" page and discovered that we like a lot of the same music. This never happens to me!

    Keep up the good work :)

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  11. @Haley, Nice to meet someone has great taste in music! :D

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  12. Valerie, those brownies are very inviting...:)

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  13. so at first i thought THERE'S A CRUMBLE TOP ON THIS FUDGE BROWNIE?! either way, genius idea to do crumble the crispy bits, no waste!

    i love the salty + sweet combination. i always underbake my brownies and i don't know how you managed the extra 15 minutes, i would've just dug in with a spoon.

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  14. @Lan I actually have done the fudgy brownies-straight-from-the-pan, thing...more than once. (So wrong, but so good.) ;-D

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  15. Fudgy brownies get me every time. These make me swoon! And the fact that you use a point and shoot inspires me...so do I, but not nearly as well as you :) Gorgeous pictures.

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  16. Wow, this looks very yummy. I hope my picture skills get that good some day.

    You don't need to tempt me to the chocolate side with these, I'm already there! ;)

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  17. Hi Valerie,
    The brownies look amazing! Salt ( of any kind : ) and chocolate...Yes Please! They look delicious and I love the quote too.

    Danielle xo

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  18. These brownies look so fudgy and decadent! Perfect. Your pictures are stunning, really professional.

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  19. Brownies with crumbles on top? Decadent! This is, like, my death wish!!! I could eat this all up!

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  20. These would definitely make me purr with happiness.

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  21. These brownies look amazing Val! So fudgey, and with so little chocolate. I'm sure this is going to go into my regular rotation :)

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Thanks for visiting, and for taking the time to read through my ramblings!
If you have a recipe comment or question, I'd love to hear from you.

Happy Baking!
♥ Valerie

 

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