Hugh’s Favorite Brownies
Brownies might be one of my favorite things to bake and to experiment with, because the possibilities seem endless. Chips, nuts, all sorts of candy, flavorings, toppings, swirls of peanut butter or caramel, and any combination thereof!
The other reason I love to bake brownies? It’s hard to mess ‘em up — I mean like, really mess ‘em up…to where you wouldn’t go ahead and eat them anyway.
I’ve had my go-to base recipe down for some years, but I was on the hunt for something of that classic, crackly top, fudge-like middle variety. As I envisioned what I was going for and cross-referenced a half dozen recipes, I thought that if I nailed this one, my husband (a.k.a. Grandfather) was going to be a very happy man (chocolate-obsessed as he is).
Pouring these into the pan, I could tell it was going to be good, but…oh my. Yum!
After cutting the brownies into hefty little squares, I hand one to Hugh and ask him to see if this is his favorite recipe, only to have him point at the side and ask if those are nuts or chocolate chips in it. After answering him, first assuming he wants to know because we are serving them to a group of his friends a little later, I get it.
“Are you asking because there are people coming who can’t eat nuts,” I ask, “or because it would be categorically not your favorite brownie if it had nuts in it?”
“The latter,” he says with a smirk.
“Seriously? Do you think I don’t know you?” (As if I’ve forgotten all the times he’s insisted he can’t understand why anyone would ruin a perfectly good brownie by putting nuts in it. He eats them anyway, mind you.)
So, this is the way my little chocolate fiend likes it — dense, fudgy, decadent with chocolate on top of chocolate and nothing but chocolate. And, yes, this is now definitely his favorite brownie. (I’ve got to admit he has great taste!) And it could not be easier — one bowl (a saute pan in this case), no sifting or pre-whisking, and only 9 ingredients including the chocolate chips!
If you tend to like a slightly cakier version, that base I mentioned which lends itself quite nicely to a variety of add-ins is used in the Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut Brownies recipe. Give them a try…with whatever mix-ins suit your fancy!
Here are some of the items I find especially helpful for this bake. (These are affiliate links.)
Calphalon Nonstick 3-quart Saute Pan
OXO Good Grips Silicone Balloon Whisk
U-Taste Heat Resistant Flexible Silicone Spatula
King Arthur Bensdorp Cocoa
Hugh’s Favorite Brownies
makes 16 generous squares, or 32 perfectly satisfying triangles
INGREDIENTS
1 cup unsalted butter
1-1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons good quality vanilla extract
3/4 cup good all-purpose flour
1 cup semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350° with the rack set in the center. Butter a 9” square baking pan. (I like to run a length of parchment across the pan and up two opposite sides, so I can remove the entire bake from the pan because I find it easier to cut and serve.)
In a medium-large saucepan (I prefer nonstick for this), melt the butter on low heat. Just as the butter has melted completely and with the heat still on, whisk in the sugar until well blended. It should look like the sugar is just beginning to melt. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the butter mixture to cool slightly.
Add the cocoa, baking powder, salt, eggs, and vanilla, and whisk until quite smooth.
Add the flour and chocolate chips, stir gently until combined.
Pour into the prepared pan and level the mixture into the corners with a spatula. Bake for 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the pan before removing or cutting. Refrigerating for at least an hour, with the pan tightly covered in plastic wrap, makes for much cleaner cuts.
flour+sugar is a participant in the Amazon and King Arthur affiliate marketing programs and earns fees on qualifying purchases made via links on this site.
