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Outrageous Brownies
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Outrageous Brownies

I have been making these brownies for over 30 years and I'm powerless to their seduction, so I can't make them often. This is an Ina Garten recipe via Lee Bailey's book, Country Desserts.
Author: Zoë François

Ingredients

  • 1 lb (4 sticks) unsalted butter
  • 1 lb semi or bittersweet chocolate, your favorite brand, for melting
  • 6 oz unsweetened chocolate for melting (If you don't have access to unsweetened chocolate, use more bittersweet and reduce sugar by 3 tablespoons)
  • 6 large eggs
  • 2 1/2 tbsp 2 1/2 tablespoons instant espresso powder optional, but I highly recommend it for balance of flavor, the brownies don't taste like coffee
  • 2 tbsp vanilla extract easy vanilla extract recipe
  • 2 1/4 cups (370g) sugar
  • 1 cup (150g) all-purpose flour If you use King Arthur Flour it has more protein and will make for a dry brownie, so you'll want to use 2 tablespoons less flour.
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 cups chopped toasted nuts
  • 3 cups chocolate chips or chunks, folded in at the end, not melted

Caramel Sauce

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp corn syrup to prevent crystallization
  • 3 tbsp water
  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream more if you want it thinner

Instructions

Brownies

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and line a 12x18-inch sheet pan with parchment.
  • Chop the 1-pound of bittersweet and the unsweetened chocolate into small pieces. I used an ice pick, but a super slicer is a great option as well.
  • Melt the butter and chopped chocolate over a double boiler until there are no chunks of chocolate left. Cool to room temperature.
  • Remove from heat and mix in the eggs, espresso, vanilla, and sugar. In a small bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir the dry into the chocolate mixture.
  • Fold the nuts and chocolate chips into the batter. Spread into prepared pan.
  • Bake for about 30 minutes or just until tester comes out clean, but DO NOT OVER BAKE or they will not have the outrageous fudge quality. Cool completely and then cut into squares. Serve with ice cream, coffee or milk or just eat them out of the pan.
  • In my instagram video I made a half batch in an Emile Henry Rectangular Baking Dish. They made for a thicker brownie and required 30 minutes baking, even for the smaller batch.
  • Serve with a tall glass of milk or with ice cream and caramel sauce.

Caramel Sauce

  • Melt the sugar, corn syrup and water over high heat, without touching, until it caramelizes. Once it colors stir the caramel so it cooks evenly. Once it is evenly dark and just starting to smoke, whisk in the cream.If the caramel seizes when you add the cream, just let it cook on low heat until it melts again. Strain if necessary. Will last for about a week in the refrigerator. It will thicken when chilled.