Chocolatey Bliss....

Who doesn't love chocolate? I know I love chocolate and I was born with a chocolate allergy, but that never stopped me from eating chocolate (knock on wood)!
One of the most loved ways to eat chocolate is in a freshly baked, gooey, chewy brownie and these brownies are just that and then some!
I rarely bake brownies, but recently my friend, Kenn, started baking these wonderful brownies from a cookbook called "Baked: New Frontiers in Baking" which was written by the owners of a popular Brooklyn Bake Shop called "Baked". Kenn couldn't say enough about how great and sinful these brownies tasted so I had to make them for myself and Kenn was kind enough to share the recipe with me. Of course, I'll be picking up my own copy of the cookbook very soon!

The ingredients for the brownies are typical "brownie" ingredients, but it's very important to use only the best quality cocoa and chocolate, such as Valrhona. No Hershey's or Nestle' ca-ca in this recipe! The recipe also includes fresh eggs, butter, espresso powder, sugar (brown & white), flour & vanilla.

Separately mix the flour, cocoa and a little salt in a bowl and set aside.

In a medium heavy pot, combine the chocolate, butter and espresso powder and stir, over low heat. The actual recipe states to place these ingredients in a heat proof glass bowl and set that over a pot of simmering water to melt, but none of my bowls and pots work together for me to do this. A very heavy pot, such as an enameled cast iron pot works fine.

Continue to stir until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth.

Turn off the heat and whisk in the sugars until completely combined.

Add the eggs & vanilla to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Do not overbeat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.

Next you'll want to sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture. Using a rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture into the chocolate until just a bit of the flour mixture is visible.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake it off!

Let cool completely and cut into squares and enjoy (not all of them by yourself, though)! The brownies will keep, tightly covered in plastic wrap, at room temperature for up to 3 days.

For more information on the Baked Bakery and how you can order their delicious brownies or order the cookbook and bake a batch yourself, visit their website

Baked Bake Shop