Best Brownies

At one of my bridal showers, my friend gave me Nigella Lawson's cookbook, How To Be A Domestic Goddess. I'm really enjoying this book! It's comfort food with a British twist! I've made the brownies several times, and they are always a hit!

Brownies

Ingredients
1 2/3 cups soft unsalted butter 1 teaspoon salt
13 ounces best bittersweet chocolate 1 1/3 cups chopped walnuts (optional)
6 large eggs pan measuring about 13x 9 x 2 1/2 inches
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line your brownie pan- I think it's worth lining the sides as well as the base- with foil or parchment paper.

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a large heavy-based pan. In a bowl or large wide-mouthed measuring cup, beat the eggs with the vanilla and sugar. Measure the flour into another bowl and add the salt.

When the chocolate mixture has melted, let it cool a bit before beating in the eggs and sugar, and then the nuts and flour. Beat to combine smoothly and then scrape out of saucepan into the lined pan.

Bake for about 25 minutes. When it's ready, the top should be dried to a paler brown speckle, but the middle still dark, dense, and gooey. And even with such a big batch you do need to keep alert and keep checking: the difference between gungy brownies and dry brownies is only a few minutes; remember they will continue to cook as they cool.


So, the first time I made this recipe, I followed it to a tee. They turned out nicely, but were a bit too cake like. I needed a fork to eat them. The second time I made them, I used less butter (just two sticks I think...that's slightly sick when I think about it!), and I baked them for almost 35 minutes. They turned out perfectly! I was able to cut them without issues, wrap them in foil and give them as a gift to a friend. I also kept a few! This recipe yields LOTS of brownies!

Chicago was a blast! My voice is still recovering! We shopped, saw a drag show (hilarious and the best $15 I've ever spent!), drank, talked, and ate...lots! It just goes to prove once again that the girls you meet in college and live with, will always be your besties, even if you don't get to see each other all the time.