Cocoa Brownies (recipe from Bon Appetit)

I love trying out new recipes, and while I usually play around with new recipes when I'm cooking, baking is an entirely different story. My rule is that the recipe should be followed precisely the first time when baking, and then after that you can fiddle and fix all you want.

In the December 2012 Bon Appetit issue they had a recipe for Cocoa Brownies that looked divine, and it boasted being easy peasy so of course I had to give it a whirl. Also, I don't know about you but I'm more likely to have cocoa powder in my cupboard than squares of baker's chocolate, so this recipe was enticing because it didn't force me to put on pants on my day off. It's the little things in life that make me happy.

The Verdict: These are chocolate squares of heaven.


This recipe is essentially the same as the original, except I added in my notes about what I did and what I would do next time.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Line a 8x8x2 glass baking dish with foil and grease it (next time I will use parchment paper because that's just my preference for lining dishes for bars). 
2. Melt the butter in a small bowl and set aside (I put the full block in a bowl in the microwave for 60 seconds). Mix the dry ingredients in a medium bowl, then slowly whisk in the butter. Add the vanilla (I usually triple the amount suggested), then one egg at a time, whisking as you go. Add the flour and fold into batter (I switched from whisk to large spoon at this stage to keep the fuss minimal) -- be careful not to over mix. 
3. Pour the batter and spread evenly into the prepared dish, then bake for 25-30 minutes -- test by inserting a knife - should come out clean or with a few crumbs (I baked mine in the middle of the oven for almost 35 minutes, so keep an eye on your brownies!). Cool on a wire rack before cutting (at this point you could even dust them with cocoa powder or powdered sugar).

Here is the original recipe. Trust me, this is worth the click.