let me begin by telling you that in all the years i have walked this earth, i have baked more brownies than i have eaten them. sounds humanly impossible, but that’s exactly how focused my quest for the perfect brownies has been.
i am giving it to you like NO ONE has! it’s the easiest recipe and i give you the dirty deets on every variable that makes this brownie the awesome brownie it is! so buckle up!
the ultimate guide to the best brownies.
the recipe is a easy to multiply recipe. this makes 4 medium sized squares, which is technically single serve in my dictionary. the great thing about this recipe is that you dont need to measure out the ingredients perfectly. since they are all mentioned in proportional to one another, you just have to use the same measure for every ingredient and you are set! i take thanks in amazon gift cards!
what you need.
* 1 X all purpose flour
* 1/4 X cocoa flour
* 3/4 X sugar (confectioner’s sugar or just finely blitzed castor sugar
* 1/2 X dark chocolate
* 2 X eggs
* 1 X butter/coconut oil
* 2 X tbs honey
* 1 X ts vanilla extract
* pinch of salt
* 1/ 2 X additives ( choco chips, walnuts, almonds, reese, snickers etc) (optional – more info below)
what you need.
1. preheat your oven to 180C or 375F
2. mix together and keep aside . – flour, cocoa powder and additives. (chop up reese’s or snickers to tiny pieces before adding them to the batter. you can also skip this – more info below)
3. melt the butter/coconut oil and the chocolate together. mix well and let it cool to room temperature.
4. add the sugar to the eggs and beat well. i would beat it up by hand for upto 5 minutes. this is what gives you the crusty layer on the top.
5. add the melted butter/coconut oil +chocolate combo from step 3 to the eggs+sugar. combine well. dont whisk it too much.
6. add honey, vanilla extract and the pinch of salt to the above. combine well.
7. now add the dry ingredients from step 2 and combine well.
8. bake it and voila!
the variables.
the guide below is what makes this brownie recipe truly the ULTIMATE GUIDE . i am giving you the pros, cons and substitutes for each of variables mentioned below. so lets get in with it.
flour.
all purpose flour works best. whole wheat flour adds a nutty texture and works great as well. millet flour makes the brownie a tad too dry. so if you are using millet flour then go 1X flour: 1.5X butter. you should be fine! sieve the flour before combining with cocoa powder for best results.
cocoa powder.
use the best quality unsweetened cocoa powder you can find. however do note that the cocoa powder is more for flavor. what actually gives your the chocolaty taste in your brownies is the chocolate you add. so dont substitute with cocoa powder. it makes the brownie really dry and not as awesome tasting as the original.
sugar.
i used regular castor sugar. brown sugar works too but when it doesnt give you the crusty layer when combined with the eggs. also brown sugar weighs your brownie down so it might taste denser. i have no idea what coconut sugar would do. if you use em in your recipe, leave a comment below and let me know.
dark chocolate.
only dark chocolate. the darker you go, the awesomer your brownies! milk chocolate doesn’t work. white chocolate is for blondies. so good quality dark chocolate. i used the ones that i eat and they worked just fine.
eggs.
typically eggs are preferable at room temperature but slightly chilled eggs work too. eggs are what gives the fudgy finish to the brownies, so please dont use substitutes. also it’s the combination of the eggs+sugar that gives you the classic brownie crust.
butter/coconut oil.
butter is preference number 1. coconut oil is something i use off late (healthy choices and all). using coconut oil gives you nothing more than whiff of coconut flavor. sometimes not even that. tasteless odorless vegetable oil works just fine too. again dont go skimping out on the quantity. brownies are not where you make your health choices. as mentioned above, use more butter/oil if you are using millet flour.
honey.
let me be honest. i have no idea what this does. during one of my many experiments, i added a few tb of honey because i wanted to empty the honey jar. but it made a huge difference to brownies. i cant put my finger on it but honey makes it perfect. so honey it is guys.
vanilla extract.
go for the good one. splurge. but this is just to hide the eggy smell of the brownies.
salt.
because #saltbae
additives.
add one additive to one batch. dont add em all. so remember that if you go more than 1/2 X of additives, them proportionately increase the butter/coconut oil ratio.
also, it maybe legal in california, but i am not sure about india. i dont want the plant branch of the karni sena on my case. imma just say go 70s if you want (wink wink)
baking time.
by far the most important variable. let me give it to you straight. i truly dislike it when recipes ask me to bake a certain amount of time based on a certain sized pan. i dont have a 9″ pan and i am stuck opening my oven doors multiple times to check if the brownies are done.
so by the powers of my experiment combined, i give you baking time based on depth of the brownie mix.
– mix up the ingredients as mentioned above.
– put the mix in a pan/dish of your choice.
– if the depth of the mix is less than 1inch (1 phalange for science nerds), bake at 180C for 10 mins.
– if the depth of the mix is 1 inch (2 phalanges), bakes at 180c for 15 mins.
– if the depth of the mix is more than 1 inch, you add 2 mins for every half inch.
eg: if it’s 1.5 inches, you bake for 15+2= 17 mins
if it’s 2 inches, you bake for 15+2+2 = 19 mins.
– if you want suuuuper fudgy brownies, bakes for 3 mins LESS than the required time
– if you want super crumbly brownies that you wanna use with ice cream etc, bake for 5 mins MORE than the required time.
the awesomeness that is me, with a dash of brandy.
so kind mortals of the world, i give you the ultimate and the easiest guide for baking the best ever brownies!
but i am awesome, so i am also gonna tell you how to make brownies with a splash of liquor.
what works – brandy, whiskey, coffee liquor, coconut liquor, orange liquor.
what doesnt work – vodka, gin, tequila.
what you lose – the crust brownie top doesnt work if you add alcohol to the mix. dunno why.
what you gain – alco-brownies are right up there with the 70s-brownies my earthlings. you wont go back to regular brownies, trust me!
what you do – prepare the mix as above. add 2 X tb of alcohol to the mix and combine well. pour onto pan. cover pan with foil and bake as above. if you dont cover with a foil, the alcohol rises up in the heat of the oven and messes with you brownies. what you are left with is a drunk smelling oven and cardboard tasting brownies. so alco in = foil on!
