Description
Super fudgy and tender brownies baked with extra dark chocolate and fine sea salt
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter
- 6 oz 60% bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 1 1/2 tsp instant espresso*
- 1/2 cup (100g) dark brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temp
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup (92g) Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat Flour*
- 1/3 cup (25g) dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4–5 oz 70-80% dark chocolate*, chopped
- Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and grease and line an 8×8 square baking dish with parchment paper. Allow the paper to hang over the sides for easy removal.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the 60% bittersweet chopped chocolate.
- Then brown the butter. Do so by adding the butter to a saucepan over medium heat. Melt down and heat the butter as it goes from loud and bubbly to quiet and foamy (about 8 minutes). Once it’s foaming, continue mixing until the butter turns a rich amber color and gives off a nutty aroma.
- Pour the hot brown butter over the chocolate (scraping in the brown bits at the bottom of the pot) and stir to combine and melt. Then whisk in the espresso powder, followed by the granulated and dark brown sugar.
- While that melts and cools, whisk together the whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Set aside.
- When the chocolate has cooled, add the eggs and vanilla and vigorously whisk for about 1 minute – the batter should thicken a bit.
- Sift in the dry ingredients (to remove any lumps in the cocoa powder) and use a rubber spatula to fold the batter together.
- Just before the dry ingredients are fully mixed in, add in about 1/2 of the chopped dark chocolate and continue to fold the batter together. Stop right when the chocolate is evenly distributed as you do not want to over mix.
- Pour the batter into the baking dish and spread it even. Top with the remaining chopped dark chocolate.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the chocolate is melted into puddles and the surface is crackled and glossy.
- Slam the pan against a hard surface a few times to help deflate the brownies. This will give you that rich and fudgy texture in the center. Place the pan on a wire cooling rack.
- Sprinkle with a few pinches of flaky sea salt and allow the brownies to cool completely. You can either patiently wait a few hours by leaving them at room temperature, or speed up the processes and chill them in the fridge.
- You know they’re ready to slice by how the brownies bend when you lift them out of the pan. If it easily bows in the center as you try to lift them out, they need to chill or cool for longer. If it bends just slightly but feels sturdy when lifted, they’re OK to slice.
- Use a large shape knife and make one-motion swift cuts, avoiding dragging the knife down the brownies. Wipe down the knife between each cut for perfect slices.
- Now enjoy!
Notes
ESPRESSO POWDER – This helps add depth to these brownies, so I highly recommend keeping it in! You can leave it out of you don’t have access to it, or adjust the amount to your preference (1 tsp is mild and 3 tsp is pretty strong).
GLUTEN FREE FLOUR– I have not tested it, but gluten free baking flour acts very similar to whole wheat flour. For a gluten free version, try swapping Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat Flour with Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour. Make sure you gently spoon and level the flour, or weigh the flour for accuracy. Gluten free flour tends to be more dense than whole wheat flour, so it’s easy to use too much when measuring by volume (aka cups).
DARK CHOCOLATE – While you can find bittersweet baking chocolate in the baking aisle of your grocery store, different strengths of dark chocolate are often found in the candy aisle. Grab the bittersweet chocolate from the baking aisle, and the more intense dark chocolate from the candy aisle.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
Keywords: dark chocolate brownies, dark chocolate, brownie recipe, brownies, fudgy brownies
