Simple Perfect Brownies

There are so many feelings about brownies and so many recipes, techniques and textures. I’m not a huge brownie fan but that’s because so many brownies are just not what I’m looking for. I don’t want gooey, overrich or terribly decadent brownies. But I also was pretty meh on the boxed brownies of my childhood. I just know that I want them to feel different from chocolate cake and to have that perfect, crinkly top.

Enter these brownies from Deanna Cook’s Baking Class, a book aimed at kids. I was dubious when my tween wanted to use this recipe for a batch of brownies but I figured we had nothing to lose. I had toyed with suggesting she make Stella Parks’ version https://www.seriouseats.com/bravetart-glossy-fudge-brownies but it seemed a bit much to ask my kid to brown the butter on top of everything else. I’m so glad we decided to keep it simple. These brownies were everything our family wanted.

The only thing I took from Parks’ explanatory text about brownie-making, was that it would be a good idea to beat the eggs really well, so I added that step. Other than that, this is all Cook.

We used the semi-sweet chocolate chips from Trader Joe’s. Next time I’m going to add some chopped walnuts because I love a nutty brownie but I know opinions are strong on this. 

Makes one 8x8 inch pan of brownies but I may well double it to make a bigger pan, or, one pan with nuts and one without 

INGREDIENTS

1/2 c sugar

2 TBSP butter

2 TBSP water

12 oz semisweet chocolate chips (one bag)

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

83g flour (2/3 cup)

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c chopped walnuts, almonds or pecans (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8x8 pan. Parks strongly suggests a metal rather than a glass pan because a glass pan could require longer cooking time so that’s what we did. If using non-stick cooking spray, we like to spray right before adding the batter otherwise it tends to pool in the bottom of the pan
2. Stir together the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl and set aside
3. Put the sugar, butter and water in a medium sized saucepan and heat on medium, stirring, until it comes to a boil
4. Taking the pan off the heat, add the chocolate chips and stir until melted
5. Put the eggs and vanilla in a small to medium bowl and whisk until light and fluffy (we use a hand mixer for this and mix for a minute or two on medium high)
6. Add the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture and since you’ve already got your hand mixer out, you can use that to mix it all together until it’s shiny and smooth
7. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and fold it in with a spatula, no need to use the hand mixer. Stir until just combined (you don’t see any streaks of flour). Stir in the chopped nuts, if using
8. Spray your pan if needed, then pour in the batter and smooth the top with a spatula or (our favorite) offset spatula 
9. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top is shiny and cracked (like all brownies should be!)
10. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack before cutting