Everyday Chocolate Brownies Recipes

THOMAS'S FUDGY BROWNIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a slight overhang on all sides. Melt butter and chocolate in a double boiler or a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat, and whisk in sugar. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, until combined. Whisk in cocoa and salt. Fold in flour until combined.
• Pour batter into pan. Bake until set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool slightly in pan, about 15 minutes. Lift brownies from pan using parchment. Remove parchment and transfer to a wire rack. Let cool completely. Cut into 9 squares.

SKILLET BROWNIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• To a medium bowl add the melted coconut oil, coconut sugar, vanilla and salt. Using a rubber spatula, stir to combine. Stir in the eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, until fully incorporated. Add the almond flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and stir to combine. Fold in 1/2 cup chocolate chips.
• Pour the batter into an 8-inch nonstick, oven proof skillet and spread evenly. Sprinkle with the remaining chocolate chips. Bake for 25 to 28 minutes or until the edges look dry and the center still looks slightly underdone.
• Remove from the oven and cool the brownies in the pan on a wire rack. Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving.

EVERYDAY BROWNIES

Steps:

• It's not as if I were short of a brownie recipe or two: I have over the years made them on easy autopilot; but I am no less grateful for this everyday, no-notice version. They are less extravagant - I use cocoa powder in place of the good-quality chocolate, and stud the mixture with a newstand's or convenience store's bar or two of milk chocolate - although to taste them, you would never, never guess. They ooze with such dark elegance and deep, deep chocolatiness.
• This is the recipe you turn to when a child or colleague informs you last thing that you're expected to bake something for a bake sale tomorrow. You can just smile serenely and head for the cupboard. If you're working from a more restrained array, so are clean out of light brown sugar, and there's no chance to nip to a convenience store for the chocolate, then just use 1 1/2 cups regular white sugar and up the butter to 1 1/2 and the cocoa to a heady 1 cup.
• A final note or, rather, nag: when I say cocoa powder, I do mean unsweetened cocoa; do not under any circumstance ever substitute drinking chocolate.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Melt the butter over a gentle heat in a medium-sized saucepan.
• When it's melted, add the sugar, stirring with a wooden spoon (still over a low heat) to help it blend with the melted butter.
• Whisk together the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda and pinch of salt, and then stir into the pan; when mixed (this will be a very dry mixture, and not wholly blended at this stage), remove from the heat.
• In a bowl or jug, whisk the eggs with the vanilla extract and then mix into the brownie mixture in the pan.
• Stir in the chopped chocolate and quickly pour and scrape into a foil-lined baking tin or disposable foil pan, spreading the mixture with a spatula, and cook in the preheated oven for about 20 to 25 minutes. It will look set, dark and dry on top, but when you feel the surface, you will sense it is still wibbly underneath and a cake tester will come out gungy. This is desirable.
• Transfer the pan to a rack to cool a little before cutting into 16 pieces and dusting with confectioners' sugar. I love these gorgeously warm. But then again, I love them cold, too. Actually, when cold they are properly speaking more brownie-like: gooily tender within and moreishly chewy on top.
• Make Ahead Note: The brownies can be made up to 3 days ahead and stored in airtight container. Will keep for total of 5 days.
• Freeze Note: The brownies can be frozen for up to 3 months in airtight container, layered with baking parchment. Thaw overnight in cool place.

FUDGY BROWNIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with foil; butter foil. Set aside.
• Place butter and chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of simmering water; stir frequently, until almost melted. Remove from heat; stir until completely melted.
• Whisk in sugar and salt until smooth; whisk in eggs. Gently whisk in flour just until smooth (do not overmix). Fold in nuts, if using.
• Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached (they should form a ball when rolled between your fingers), 45 to 50 minutes. Cool completely in pan.
• Use foil to lift brownie cake from pan; peel off and discard. Cut into 16 squares.

BEST EVER CHOCOLATE BROWNIES RECIPE

Steps:

• Cut 185g unsalted butter into small cubes and tip into a medium bowl. Break 185g dark chocolate into small pieces and drop into the bowl.
• Fill a small saucepan about a quarter full with hot water, then sit the bowl on top so it rests on the rim of the pan, not touching the water. Put over a low heat until the butter and chocolate have melted, stirring occasionally to mix them.
• Remove the bowl from the pan. Alternatively, cover the bowl loosely with cling film and put in the microwave for 2 minutes on High. Leave the melted mixture to cool to room temperature.
• While you wait for the chocolate to cool, position a shelf in the middle of your oven and turn the oven on to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.
• Using a shallow 20cm square tin, cut out a square of non-stick baking parchment to line the base. Tip 85g plain flour and 40g cocoa powder into a sieve held over a medium bowl. Tap and shake the sieve so they run through together and you get rid of any lumps.
• Chop 50g white chocolate and 50g milk chocolate into chunks on a board.
• Break 3 large eggs into a large bowl and tip in 275g golden caster sugar. With an electric mixer on maximum speed, whisk the eggs and sugar. They will look thick and creamy, like a milk shake. This can take 3-8 minutes, depending on how powerful your mixer is. You'll know it's ready when the mixture becomes really pale and about double its original volume. Another check is to turn off the mixer, lift out the beaters and wiggle them from side to side. If the mixture that runs off the beaters leaves a trail on the surface of the mixture in the bowl for a second or two, you're there.
• Pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the eggy mousse, then gently fold together with a rubber spatula. Plunge the spatula in at one side, take it underneath and bring it up the opposite side and in again at the middle. Continue going under and over in a figure of eight, moving the bowl round after each folding so you can get at it from all sides, until the two mixtures are one and the colour is a mottled dark brown. The idea is to marry them without knocking out the air, so be as gentle and slow as you like.
• Hold the sieve over the bowl of eggy chocolate mixture and resift the cocoa and flour mixture, shaking the sieve from side to side, to cover the top evenly.
• Gently fold in this powder using the same figure of eight action as before. The mixture will look dry and dusty at first, and a bit unpromising, but if you keep going very gently and patiently, it will end up looking gungy and fudgy. Stop just before you feel you should, as you don't want to overdo this mixing.
• Finally, stir in the white and milk chocolate chunks until they're dotted throughout.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, scraping every bit out of the bowl with the spatula. Gently ease the mixture into the corners of the tin and paddle the spatula from side to side across the top to level it.
• Put in the oven and set your timer for 25 mins. When the buzzer goes, open the oven, pull the shelf out a bit and gently shake the tin. If the brownie wobbles in the middle, it's not quite done, so slide it back in and bake for another 5 minutes until the top has a shiny, papery crust and the sides are just beginning to come away from the tin. Take out of the oven.
• Leave the whole thing in the tin until completely cold, then, if you're using the brownie tin, lift up the protruding rim slightly and slide the uncut brownie out on its base. If you're using a normal tin, lift out the brownie with the foil. Cut into quarters, then cut each quarter into four squares and finally into triangles.
• They'll keep in an airtight container for a good two weeks and in the freezer for up to a month.