the quintessential(sp?) brownie

Thanks Anneke, I printed out your recipe and will try it asap.

I have a good recipe also. It goes like this, but I could be off a bit...I can't seem to wake-up.....

1 c. butter
1/4 c. h2o
1 1/2 c. sugar

Heat together to dissolve the sugar. Pour it into

12 oz. semi sweet (chopped)

stir and cool for a minute, then add

3 eggs
1/2 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. flour
12 (more) oz. of mini chocolate chips
Nuts, optional

bake in a 9" x 13" greased pan. I line it with foil to remove and cut easier.

In answer to breadster my thoughts are white sugar and semi-sweet chocolate taste the best in chocolate brownies. Bittersweet is to dark for my clients tastes (but you can interchange or 50/50 it with semisweet in all recipes). There are good recipes using unsweetened but I prefer my recipe using semi, (as I recall theres one on the box of unsweetened chocolate, thats good).

I read an article from Marthas' magazine question area where someone asked about brownies. They wanted to know why their brownies formed a light thin crust ontop. The response was: it's due to the large amount of sugar present in brownie recipes and that it is considered very desirable on a good brownie. I never knew that it was the sugar creating this, I thought that was interesting....


The flour amount will vary depending on how big the recipe is...is it for a 9" square or a 9"x13" so you can't compare with-out posting the whole recipe? So long as the flour and soda are minimal for fudgie brownies it will be fine. I also think you must be careful not to over mix you flour, just incorporate and bake and don't over bake either. Sometimes you just have to work the recipe to know if it's good, 1/2 c. flour could be fine depending on the recipe.

Brown sugar...only in blonde brownies not chocolate!

P.S. I add peppermint extract in my brownies at christmas time. Frost them with ganche and cut them into petite fours and decorate...it's a big hit at my work.

Huh, the s.b. pie recipe I posted is from Cook's magazine (that everyone loves so dearly?)like the only recipe from them I use....it oozed everywhere? I didn't experience that, not sure I comprehend what happened to you. It turns out like a soft gel consistancy, you cool it and toss your berries with it to coat. I never picked up a slice to see how well it served, I just slice and they serve.......sorry!

I never made it with-out the exact sure gel so maybe that does effect it, the recipe is clearly labeled you must use the low sugar pectin, so?????? I'd guess that was the problem.

Truthfully fruit pies can be a bitc*! Everyone thinks there so simple, but their harder to hit just right than any pastry I can think of. The fruits texture, sweetness and moisture are such varibles....uurh! I'm never thrilled to see them on the menu......making a couple at home is fine, but making twenty at work with old dry apples ruins my day.

Hey, I've never heard of Steve's ritual...you put your hot brownies in a freezer right away? HUH? I'm not getting that....please explain?

I have to keep brownies on hand always so I always have them in the freezer. The other day I made some mint ones to use on a mini pastry tray and I had to use them a couple hours fresh. They were hard to handle even though they were cool. They didn't cut cleanly and they tended to mash down a bit, the texture was too soft and I put them on my mental list of not doing them so fresh again.

Here's my recipe:

2/3 c. butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
4 tbsp. h2o

Melt together to disolve sugar. Then pour into:

12 oz. ground semi sweet

to melt. Then I add the rest of the ingred. while it's still pretty hot and never had a problem.

2 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs
1/2 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2c. ap. flour
12 oz. mini chocolate chips
1 c. nuts (opt.)

Bake in a foil lined and greased 9x13" pan in a 350 oven (technically the recipe calls for 325 but I do it on 350). The second addition of chocolate does melt quite abit since the batter is warm, that's fine...no problem just makes them richer. Do this x3 for a full sheet pan.

It won't test done until you've killed it because the extra chips melted don't break down totally. Originally the recipe called for reg. chocolate chips but they stayed whole so it's a chocolate chip brownie. I accidentaly used mini's one day into the warm batter and got a better brownie. I watch it rise, then wait until it comes back down, then give it a couple minutes and pull it. Kind of standard baking process.

As far as brownie cookies I have a couple good ones but they don't work on my cookie tray because of the heat outside at the golf outtings they all mash together.

Here's three excellent brownie recipes from Debbie Fields, a realitively unrecognized baking goddess in the cookbook industry.

Peanut Butter Mississippi bars:

8 tbsp. butter
1/2 c. lt brown sugar
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
1 egg
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 c. ap. flour
1/2 tsp. soda
1/4 tsp. salt
8 oz. white chocolate chopped
8 oz. semi sweet chopped
1 c. nuts toasted coursely chopped.

325 oven in a buttered and foiled 9" square. She sets aside 1/2 of each chocolate and after baking melts them ontop of the warm brownie. I accidentally added them all to the batter and the people at work really like them loaded with all the choc. inside.

Toffee Blondies:

12 tbsp. butter
2 1/4c. lt brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 2/3c. flour
1 tsp. soda
1/4 tsp. salt
12 oz. semi sweet chunks

350 oven in a 9x13 foiled and buttered pan. Mix together as usually but DO NOT WHIP butter and sugar, it's just a combining processes like a quick bread. Then she adds a topping when their done baking:

1 1/2tbsp. butter
1/4 c. milk
1/2 c. plus 2 tbsp. xxx sugar
1/3 c. lt brown sugar
3/4 c. toffee pieces (from the baking isle like heath bits)

Melt everything together with-out the toffee and let simmer for 5 min. until it thickens a bit. Poke wholes in you blondes with screwers and pour carmel topping over blondes then sprinkle on toffee.


Chocolate Carmel Oat Brownies:

1 1/2 c. old fashioned oats
1 1/2 c. ap flour
1 1/2 c. Dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp. soda
1/4 tsp. salt
12 tbsp. butter

350 in a 9x13" foil lined and butter pan. In processor pulse all dry ingred. , cut in butter to peas size. Hold back 2 c. crumbs (for topping) press the rest in pan. Sprinkle bottom with:

12 0z. semi sweet chips
2 c. toasted chopped pecans

In a heavy pan heat 1/2 c. heavy cream with 14 oz. kraft carmels. when melted pour over chips in pan. Sprinkle on remain crumbs and lightly press down before baking.

I promise all three are really excellent!

Anyone else have any excellent recipes to share on this topic, I'd love to hear from you......