Hey folks, when I say the word brownies, what images does it conjure up? Is it soft and cakey and crumby, or is it dense and chewy and fudgy? Whichever it is, we've got the recipe for you Even if you picked the first one, we won't judge you for it. Let's get down to Basics. [Music] So first up we'll address the cake in the room, the cakey brownies. Courtesy of a recipe from King Arthur Flour. Into the bowl of a stand mixer goes: -About 2 1/2 cups of sugar along with -1 cup or 2 sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature Which we are going to cream together using the paddle attachment. Once a light, fluffy consistency has been reached, we're going to combine some dry ingredients in a small bowl. 1 and a quarter cups of cocoa powder and a teaspoon of kosher salt and a teaspoon of baking powder, which we're going to tiny whisk together before adding to the bowl. And mixing together tentatively, while we prepare our dry ingredients- I mean eggs. For this recipe, we're going with four large eggs plus one large egg white. Which we're going to add to the bowl while our mixer mixes one at a time Making sure it's fully incorporated before adding the next egg. We're also going to add a half of cup of water. Beat that on high speed until it is nice and creamy and then, for the final ingredient, some flour. One and a half cups of all-purpose added and mixed minimally so as not to develop too much gluten. This same sort of methodology you might employ while making pancakes. Just give that a few cursory folds make sure that everybody is nice and incorporated and then we're going to prepare our brownie pan I like to rub the whole thing down with vegetable oil and then line with parchment paper And then we are dumping in and spreading evenly our brownie batter, which we are then going to place in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 25 to 30 minutes until it resembles a cake, like this one and a toothpick, when inserted off-center emerges cleanly over the few, dainty, moist crumbs, still clinging to its wooden shaft. Then, by the parchment paper, we are removing the brownies from the brownie pan, and allowing to cool completely on a wire rack for at least one hour. Just enough time to make the only thing that makes cakey brownies worth eating, frosting. Into the bowl of a stand mixer goes one stick of soft butter, two and a half cups of sifted powder sugar, half a cup of cocoa powder, and just enough milk to make things spreadable between 1/3 to 2/3 cups. Cream that on high speed for about one minute until finger-licking delicious. Once the brownies have complete cooled we're going to remove them from the parchment paper and frost them liberally, so that the recipients of our brownies do not die of thirst and, since we're going this far we might as well... throw some sprinkles on there. Rainbow colored only because chocolate would just be redundant and then you better head down to the break room because it's Karen's birthday and you only get cake if you sing HR's birthday bylaws are perspicuous and very strict. Now, for all my trash talking this is actually a pretty damn good brownie even by cake standards. It's still very moist and has a nice density, I'm trying to catch my paper plate on fire, it's not work- there we go. But if you couldn't tell already, I'm more of the chewy, fudgy brownie type. For this, we turn to America's Test Kitchen, who recommends lining a brownie pan with aluminum foil, and lubricating with non-stick spray. Not quite sure how I feel about this, but let's give it a shot. Go ahead and set that aside so into a large bowl we can combine: 1/3 of 1 cup of cocoa powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons of espresso powder. As I have mentioned before, this won't make it taste like coffee, it's just gonna amp up the chocolate flavor. As will 2 ounces of unsweetened, chopped chocolate. To which we're going to add 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of boiling water Whisking until completely melted and incorporated. Then while it's still warm, We're adding 4 tablespoons of butter, letting that melt, And then, an essential element to chewy brownies is oil in this case, 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Additionally, the ratio of eggs that we use: In this case, 2 large eggs plus 2 egg yolks. By this point, the mixture should have cooled significantly so go ahead and throw the eggs in there and whisk to combine. We're also going to add 1 teaspoon and 1/2 of vanilla extract. Come on little guy, let's go. Teaspoon and a half of vanilla extract You can also add a teaspoon of espresso powder if desired. We're going to whisk that together before adding Two and one half cups of granulated sugar, preferably to a slightly larger bowl, am I right? Last but not least, once that's fully incorporated we are adding the flour One and three quarter cups of All Purpose, you can mix this a bit more thoroughly than the previous batch because we're not trying to get the same tenderness that we would in a cakey brownie Actually last but not least, 6 ounces of chopped bittersweet chocolate, whole and melted chocolate is essential for a fudgy brownie Mix that until just combined, go ahead and pour into our prepared 9x13 brownie pan, and we're dropping this guy into a similarly preheated 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 30 to 35 minutes until a tester emerges virtually unscathed but with a little bit of goo still hanging to it Then after allowing to cool one hour in the pan we are removing by virtue of the foil and this is the only step that I didn't understand because there was significant stickage to the foil despite all the non stick spray that was used, which as always been my experience in brownie making so if you ask me, stick with the parchment paper Once we managed to get that out of there, as you can see I've caused some significant damage to the surface integrity But that doesn't stop this from being a majorly delicious fudgy brownie with a truffle-like texture and a subtle chew and while you will most certainly eat these brownies in a single bite like what I'm doing here What if you're like me and you like your brownies practically melting and with the texture of chewing gum, well I got the recipe for you Please bear in mind when we filmed this, I only made a half batch so I'm going to narrate the correct amounts and you can just follow along with the video for a visual reference, into a large bowl goes one and three quarter cups or sugar, two sticks of melted butter I'm also going to add a teaspoon and a half of espresso powder One teaspoon of vanilla extract and four eggs plus two egg yolks Go ahead and give those a whisk and to combine completely before adding one cup of cocoa powder and half a cup of vegetable oil I'm sorry I'm putting weird emphases in my sentences, I'm having a long night; whisk that fairly to combine and then it's time to add my secret weapon: bread flour. In addition to all the other chew-inducing elements that we have in this recipe bread flour is high in gluten and will create a chewier texture before we add it we are whisking it together with a teaspoon each of baking powder and kosher salt and we are chopping six ounces of bittersweet chocolate that we are going to add to the mix before adding the flour, then we are going to fold the whole thing together. But again don't worry about over-mixing The more you mix the more gluten you develop. And La-Di-Da the chewier your brownie. This time I'm returning to the greased pan with parchment paper lining, this might not encourage the same glossy exterior you get with aluminum foil but I just think it makes it easier to get out of the pan, and as you can see my brownie battered doubles as I poured it into the pan because I made another batch Anywho, this guys going to the same 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 25-35 minutes until your degree of doneness has been acheived, and I like mine somewhere between barely cooked and not cooked, it's like the Levain cookie of brownies, I love it, anyway I hope this gives you some ideas on how to give up the boxed stuff and improve the brownies in your life Because whether you like your brownies cakey, or fudgy or chewie or other; you deserve your shot at happiness and happiness is a brownie Hey guys, Brownies.. Hey folks, Brownies... Brownies... For you and for me, for America For the world.. really, uh.. Brownies.. Hey folks, brownies When I say that word, which of Lord of the Rings movies do you think of? [Frustrated] Hey guys, brownies, whether you like them soft [Inaudible] Brownies.. Is it [Inaudible] [Inaudible] [Inaudible] Dense and [Inaudible] Brownies, whether you like them cakey and moist or chewy and fudgy, I and many others like me will not tell you that you're wrong.. What? Hey folks, when I say the word- [Phone Alarm Rings] BALLS! When I say the word balls! [Laughs]
I am surprised by the lack of whisky in the video.
Does it bother anyone else that he's mentioning the ingredient amounts by volume despite the fact that he's measuring by weight?
Okay, I let out an audible "WHOA...!" when I saw the completed product of the third recipe. I know what's on my to-bake list's top spot now...
I love the episodes where he starts with the terrible version of something then makes a significantly improved version.
"Then after allowing to cool one hour in the pan..."
I hate these bullshit recipes that are impossible to follow!
the out takes here are great
How much bread flour did he use? He just skipped over that before the 1 tsp of baking powder and salt. The brownie shaped hole in my...uhh heart needs to be filled..
Is anyone else loving the music of this episode? It was so sensual!
Each of these recipes looks like a step up from box brownies (which I nevertheless manage to inhale)