Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Chewy, Fudgy Brownies

brownieschewyfudgy

I didn't get a chance to complete this week's TWD, but if it makes it sort of better, I made brownies (just not the recipe I was supposed to). I know I said I wasn't a huge fan of regular brownies because I find that they're excessively rich, but I didn't want to give up on full fat brownies just yet, especially since they always look irresistable. I decided to give CI's chewy, fudgy brownies a try because they sounded like they would have the perfect balance between chewy and fudgy. To be honest, I was a little disappointed considering how much richer these were compared to the low fat fudgy brownies. I would have thought that more fat = tastier, but these didn't really do it for me. They were a little too light and not 'brownie dense' or fudgy enough. The texture and flavour improved by day 2. These weren't horrible, but I guess they're just not for me. If I'm going to eat something with so much fat packed into a tiny square, they better be special or exceptional!

Chewy, Fudgy Triple Chocolate Brownies
Cook's Illustrated

Either Dutch-processed or natural cocoa works well in this recipe. These brownies are very rich, so we prefer to cut them into small squares for serving.

Makes Sixty-four 1-inch Brownies
5 ounces semisweet chocolate or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate , chopped
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), cut into quarters
3 tablespoons cocoa powder 
3 large eggs 
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
1/2 teaspoon table salt 
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour 

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick vegetable cooking spray. Fold two 12-inch pieces of foil lengthwise so that they measure 7 inches wide. Fit one sheet in bottom of greased pan, pushing it into corners and up sides of pan; overhang will help in removal of baked brownies. Following illustration 1 below, fit second sheet in pan in same manner, perpendicular to first sheet. Spray foil with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In medium heatproof bowl set over a pan of almost-simmering water, melt chocolates and butter, stirring occasionally until mixture is smooth. Whisk in cocoa until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.
3. Whisk together eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in medium bowl until combined, about 15 seconds. Whisk warm chocolate mixture into egg mixture; then stir in flour with wooden spoon until just combined. Pour mixture into prepared pan, spread into corners, and level surface with rubber spatula; bake until slightly puffed and toothpick inserted in center comes out with a small amount of sticky crumbs clinging to it, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours, then remove brownies from pan using foil handles (see illustration 2, below). Cut into 1-inch squares and serve. (Do not cut brownies until ready to serve; brownies can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated up to 5 days.)  

26 comments:

  1. These brownies look so very good! I'm sorry you didn't like them hugely, but they sure look good :)

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  2. we totally think alike... if it's horrible for me, it better taste amazing!! otherwise... so not worth it!

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  3. Beautiful photos. Your brownies looks so fudgy, I sure could go for one right now!

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  4. Nice looking brownie! The one with the TWD recipe is quite rich and fudgy!

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  5. Well they look fantastic. Hm, I think I made a brownie recipe from CI some time ago that I wasn't thrilled with either. I don't remember which one off the top of my head though.

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  6. The pictures sure do do it for me:)

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  7. Oh, gosh. Those brownies look heavenly.

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  8. They wussies at CI probably did come across a very fudgey recipe that they deemed TOO fudgey! Hahaha. :) Well, they still look good enough to gobble up!

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  9. I love trying new brownies recipes. Thanks for sharing.

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  10. I am in love with No Pudge brownies, have you tried em? Adding yogurt gives them a unique twist.

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  11. You're a tough cookie! :) Those looked pretty fudgy to me but not as much as others but definitely not cakey (ew).
    ~ingrid

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  12. Although I do have to admit those look terribly tempting, I hope you do eveutally take the time to make the cherry brownie tort, for even if I didn't have much hope for it... it turned out to be an extremely great cake! Mmmm...

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  13. Sorry these brownies didn't do it for you, but they sure look chewy, fudge-y, and delicious! =)

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  14. Oh wow! Those brownies look fantastic! I love the chewy fudgy ones.... *drool*

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  15. Aw, sorry they didnt work out as planned but the photos make them look delicious!

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  16. That's too bad you didn't dig the brownies, but hey... now you know that the low fat ones are the best. What a great concept, better for you and better for your tongue :)

    And yeah pumpkin holds alot of moisture. It's a cool way to leave out fat though :)

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  17. There are brownies and then there are brownies. This is a true brownie, wow.

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  18. Too bad you weren't very impressed with these! They definitely look delicious though.

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  19. Between your brownies and these cinnamon rolls, I'm in love!

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  20. I'm with you: if I'm going to take the calorie hit, it'd better be chewy and densely fudgy. I recently made the Scharffen Berger brownies from the Essence of Chocolate and they were fab - they edged out the Baked brownie for me.

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  21. OMG I am drooling in front of my screen! justthe perfect texture for me! I Take your recipe, will translate it and do it for sure!

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  22. Sorry these didn't work out for you! Finding the perfect brownie recipe that suits your taste can be quite the b**ch! I'm also on the quest!!

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  23. It's too bad it didn't meet your expectations, but everyone has different tastes. They certainly look delicious and I wouldn't pass on an offer of one!

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  24. Although you were not thrilled with this recipe, it sure looks good. You did a good job.

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  25. Hi, it seems it's been a while for comments but I just made these brownies and they were very very good. I am or have been in search of a good chewy fudgy brownie.. this is one of the best I've made. I have been making brownie cockaigne out of my old NY Times cookbook, those are very very good brownies also, but I like the crunchy top of boxed brownies, and the one I made from the NYTimes have never had this good top :) I used ghiradelli chocolate (bittersweet) and regular Baker's chocolate for the 2 oz of unsweetened chocolate. I used Hershey's regular cocoa which I like better than ANY other cocoa, which is the Euro cocoa, the Nestle cocoa, Dutch cocoa.. I guess I am just too old to change (59 :) These are the brownie I will make going forward and the NYTimes one if my husband wants a really dark brownie.. I like these brownies because they have the best chocolate taste, they rise like a brownie should and they have the crackle top.. So thank you very much for posting this recipe. I think brownies are like colors, there are tons of shades of green and I may like mid green and others light green, all the colors are great it's just a matter of taste. thank you again.

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