Brownies!

October 25th, 2009 | by Jamie Baxter |

Deep, dark richness of chocolate with a hint of espresso. Take a gander inside if you want the details!

Dark Chocolate & Espresso Brownies

I adapted the recipe for these delicious treats from the Espresso Brownies I ran across while browsing through TasteSpotting. The recipe sounded delicious, but a tad too sweet (I love my chocolate on the slightly bitter side). I tweaked it a little instead and used the following:

  • 230g 100% cocoa chocolate baking chips, melted down over low heat
  • 115g (~8tbsp) butter, softened
  • 300g confectioner’s sugar
  • 5 large eggs
  • 1/2c. fresh espresso cooled to room temperature
  • 70g all-purpose flour
  • 70g Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder

Instructions are basically the same as the original recipe’s set. Beat butter/sugar until smooth/fluffy1. Whisk eggs briefly to mix and then add to the butter/sugar mix and mix well. Pour in the espresso and mix well.
Sift the flour and cocoa powder and mix into the moist ingredients, stirring until just mixed thoroughly with a whisk2. Mix in all of the melted chocolate and stir briefly until well mixed3. Grease a baking pan with butter (or shortening) and dust lightly with either flour or cocoa powder, and transfer the brownie mixture to it. Bake at 325˚F for roughly 30-35 minutes (for an ~60ish in2 pan), or until it passes the knife/fork test.

Let cool and enjoy! This first attempt turned out a tisch on the dry side, and also just a tad less sweet than I was aiming for. For the interim, @kservos logically suggested I use some milk to deal with that, so I’ll give that a try tomorrow night (I’m brownied-out tonight). For next time, I’ll probably bump up the sugar and butter by about 10-15% to try to moisten and sweeten them up a bit more, or I could back off the zomgdarkdarkchocolatehurrhurr mentality and just go with something like 70-80% cocoa baking chips. It could also use a bit more espresso flavor…I can barely taste it at its present level. Maybe I’ll try a whole cup next time?

1Mine didn’t come out terribly smooth, so an additional tablespoon or two of butter may be necessary.
2I made sure to grab every last bit of flour/cocoa along the edge of the bowl. It’s not hard to miss with how dark the cocoa turns when it gets moist. Did I mention making this makes it look like your kitchen had a mud-bomb explode inside?
3The mixture should firm up just a tad and look like a slightly thick cake batter, as the warm chocolate should congeal the egg a bit. Refrain from tasting the batter at this point. I couldn’t get enough when I was cleaning the spatula after transferring it to the baking dish!

  1. 2 Responses to “Brownies!”

  2. By TinyPliny on Oct 25, 2009 | Reply

    Five large eggs? Didn’t it turn out even slightly “eggy”? I used 3 eggs in a carrot cake and it turned out too “eggy”…

  3. By Jamie Baxter on Oct 26, 2009 | Reply

    Not at all, really. Doesn’t even really seem like there is any egg in it once it’s cooked, to be honest.

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