I made a few simple adjustments to the original recipe. We bake and eat around nut allergies and match insulin to carbs here at the farmhouse, so I tailored our batch to better suit our needs by omitting the walnuts called for and reducing the sugar from a full 2 cups down to 1 ½ cups. If you don’t need to make your version nut free, you can add in the ½ cup chopped walnuts Chef Malgieri uses. The brownies are sweet enough for our family, but you can add back in the ¼ of both granulated and brown sugar that I removed from my brownies if you prefer a sweeter brownie. I almost always incorporate my method for creating my own cake flour substitute when baking recipes that I want to be tender like these brownies. It’s simple and involves replacing a bit of the flour with cornstarch to reduce the protein content of the flour. If you prefer, you can simply use a full cup of All-purpose flour and omit the cornstarch entirely.The original recipe calls for bittersweet chocolate. I use an even mixture of the milk chocolate and dark chocolate chips I keep on hand in my baking pantry. It gives the brownies a delicious chocolate flavor with enough sweetness without being overly sweet. You can use bar chocolate or chocolate chips, creating your own custom blend to create the flavor you like.
Ingredients
8ouncesbutter
8ounces (1 ½ cups)chocolate chips, see note above
¾cupbrown sugar, packed
¾cupgranulated sugar
4large eggs
½teaspoonsalt
1teaspoonvanilla extract
1cup minus 2 tablespoons All-purpose flour
2tablespoonscornstarch
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 13×9 baking pan with parchment paper to prevent the brownies from sticking to the pan as they bake. If you like, you can also apply a thin layer of Magic Baking Pan Release Spread, cooking spray, or melted butter to the pan and/or parchment paper.
In a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter. Add the chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. Add the brown sugar to the pan and stir to combine. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes while preparing the rest of the batter.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the granulated sugar, eggs, salt, vanilla, flour, and cornstarch. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and free of lumps.
Add about half of the warm chocolate mixture to the mixing bowl. Whisk briskly to incorporate and temper the eggs. This will warm them gently without creating lumps of partially scrambled egg. Add the remaining warm chocolate mixture to the bowl and whisk until smooth and well combined.
Using a spatula, transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan. Spread the batter to evenly cover the bottom of the pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until just set. When baked, the brownies will begin to pull away from the sides of the pan with a crackly top and a toothpick or skewer inserted into the middle of the pan will come out clean. Because of their fudgy texture and high chocolate content, the brownies can seem under baked. Once they have cooled to room temperature, they will set up nicely with a fudgy, soft texture. Resist the urge to overbake them and you’ll be rewarded with delicious brownies with great texture.
Allow the brownies to cool to room temperature. If desired, sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar or top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream before serving. Enjoy!