Incredibly decadent, rich, and fudgy, these Cocoa Brownies with Bittersweet Chocolate will brighten your day, every single time.

This October has been an inexplicably odd month in terms of “all events that can go wrong, will go wrong”. I checked the lunar calendar, and unfortunately I cannot pin any extra fatigue or seemingly never-ending “Case of the Mondays” on the Full Moon. It started one morning when I nonchalantly forgot the filter in my coffeemaker - and if you’ve ever done the same thing, hunting down those little minuscule ground beans of coffee is NOT the thing to be done when half asleep and extra fuzzy brained and eyed. Having the microwave (hopefully) only blow a fuse inside has rendered extra creative ways to reheat food for the hubs’s dinner when he gets home. My last infusion was a doozy, as it took my poor nurses 5 attempts to get a great blood return to be able to obtain some extra bloodwork through no fault of their own but instead my own, dehydrated little veins rebelling furiously. Added to that, I went to a wonderful pumpkin carving get together and played with *gasp* a cat that was not one of my own two beloved felines, so my capricious and snotty little fur balls stalked me and monitored my every movement the next morning to ensure that I would never again commit the atrocity of being kind to another animal that was not them.

Honestly, I was going to offer you a recipe for Chicken Parmesan Pasta today, as it is one of my favorite things in the world, but this morning, upon waking, I discovered I have lost the backing to my beloved earrings my husband gave me for my 30th birthday. I realize that worst case scenario, we go purchase a replacement for the backing, but it was a frustrating 20 minutes attempting to comb through the bedsheets to see if I could locate it. If, for any reason, it fell to the floor, I will not find it unless I accidentally step on it because it is something too fine for my eyes to see - and that would have been even before my vision loss! Earring backs are tiny!!!

Little crinkly tops, chunks of bittersweet chocolate, and the rich, deep, dark flavor of these brownies is perfect with an ice cold glass of milk or a rich espresso.

So all grumbling and first world problems aside, I decided the thing to do was bask in something chocolate. Deep, rich, and utterly, mindblowingly perfect little squares of chocolate that will turn the most agitated of Oscar the Grouches into the lovable Luna Lovegood, who literally can find the most dazzling of things in the most unusual of predicaments and problems. Clearly, the solution for every little thing that was off kilter would be brownies.

Brownies, as it happens, are one of those desserts that can vary so widely in taste, texture, and methods of creating the unctuous, fudge-like (or cake-like, if that is your preference) that it can be quite overwhelming in finding that perfect recipe to sink your teeth into. I am sure, with the ease of obtaining information with the click of a mouse, you may have seen the dozens of comparisons and variations that can be manipulated into a single recipe for brownies. It is quite fascinating to digest the science behind adding air in the sugar and butter vigorously verses plain cocoa powder verses baking chocolate in order to obtain the perfect ratio between the little delicate, thin, crackle that tops the brownies to the heart achingly rich, tender, and meltingly perfect goo in the middle of the brownie.

Literally the fudgiest, richest brownies I have ever eaten, and that includes bakery brownies.

I turn to Alice Medrich’s Best Cocoa Brownies when I want to envelop my entire being in the glorious sensations and depths that chocolate can obtain with a few simple pantry staples. This recipe is everything. Her original recipe yields such a rich, decadent brownie it is almost unbelievable something so ridiculously perfect can come from sugar, eggs, butter, cocoa powder, salt, flour, and vanilla extract. The magic of these brownies comes from the method of combining these ingredients and putting your faith into her knowledge to pull those suckers out when so much of the batter still clings onto the toothpick. TRUST HER. I nearly did not the first time I made these and I would have been sorely disappointed with the results.

I have slightly altered her recipe, as she calls for use of unsalted butter and recommends you to add in some chopped nuts, if you prefer to add that element to it. I however, wanted to up the depths and variances of the chololate textures, so I add between 1/3 to 1/2 cup of roughly chopped Ghirardelli BITTERSWEET Chocolate Chips, and purposely use salted butter then sprinkle some coarse Sea Salt (or Kosher Salt) on top. The Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate Chips have this fruitiness to the chocolate, and since it is 60% Cocoa the subtle sweetness is such a marked contrast to the rich, velvety, deep chocolate notes that hint at coffee from the Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder I use. The salt in the butter and the additional crystals of salt sprinkled on top balance out the richness of the cocoa yet at the same time intensify the decadence of the chocolate. These brownies are the very thing that never fail to lift my flagging, trivial worries out of the way so I can fully enjoy my marathon of Weeds. (Such a great show, perfect for patting yourself on the back for not making your own life as disastrous as the lead characters)

If you top one of these brownies with a scoop of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, you have a pretty perfect combination. This delight, however, is better with a thick, creamy Porter that has choffee and caramel notes. Kind of like a deconstructed, alcoholic, affogatto.

Cocoa Brownies with Bittersweet Chocolate

Very slightly adapted from Alice Medridge’s recipe

Servings: 16 or 25

Initially, I thought Alice was a crazy loon for suggesting that there could be as many as 25 servings. Who in their right mind will only want to eat a minuscule amount of brownie? Brownies are the thing you stuff in your face as you ferociously ward off intruders trying to eat them! However, I have to admit that these are the sort of brownies that are SO rich and SO decadent that you get something of the “chocolate sweats” if you eat more than 2 in a sitting. They are INCREDIBLY rich and fudge, and unless you plan on spending the rest of your day passed out in a brownie induced coma I do think that her serving sizes are spot on.

Let these brownies cool completely before trying to slice into them with a sharp, big knife that is not much smaller than the 8x8 pan. It makes cutting through the incredibly thick, fudge baked good much easier. I store these on a plate loosely covered by foil - they are so rich and moist and fudge in the center that covering them with plastic wrap just is not a great idea. Additionally, I find that these keep incredibly well on the counter - the edges continue crisping up as time passes by. The textural element gets even better, which is typically the opposite effect of what happens with baked goods after the first day.

Alice says you should use a medium bowl over the pot of simmering water. I wholly recommend using a medium large bowl or a large bowl, which may take a little longer but is SO much easier to handle. This is especially true for those who are vision impaired, as I find it difficult to secure the bowl if it is too small - you can not get a good grip on it with a potholder to hold it steady as you slowly stir the melting butter into the other ingredients. Her instruction to line the pan with parchment paper with edges overhanging to assist in lifting the cooled brownies out of the pan is spot on though.

Ingredients

10 Tbsp Salted Butter (1 and 1/4 Sticks of butter)
1 1/4 Cups Granulated White Sugar
3/4 Cups plus 2 Tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (I use Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder)
1/4 Tsp Sea Salt
1/2 Tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
2 cold Eggs
1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/3 to 1/2 Cup Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate Chips, roughly chopped
Coarse Sea Salt or Kosher Salt, for Sprinkling

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 F. Line the bottoming sides of an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper, making sure to leave overhang on the sides to allow for easy removal of the cooled brownies.
In a medium to large heat proof bowl, combine the Butter, Sugar, Cocoa Powder, and Salt. Set this bowl so it nestles on top of a pot of simmering water. Make sure it is secure. With a wooden spoon, slowly and carefully stir the ingredients together as the butter melts. This will be a fairly slow process as you do not want the sugar to scorch while the butter melts - make sure the heat for the water does not get too high to bring the water to a full boil.
When the butter has melted and everything is combined thoroughly, the mixture will be dark, slightly grainy looking/feeling, and thick. Touch the batter with the tip of your pinky - if it is hot enough to the touch that you quickly remove the pinky it is heated enough through. If it is too cool continue stirring until you want to remove your finger from the heat when you repeat the pinky test.
Remove the bowl of batter from the heat at this point and turn off the flame/heat from the burner. Let the mixture cool down enough until it is just warm, then with a wooden spoon stir in the vanilla thoroughly.
Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat the mixture vigorously after the addition of each egg. The batter will transform and become very thick, shiny, and smooth after the addition of the eggs.
Add the flour to the bowl and slowly mix it until the flour is just incorporated and you can no longer see any white. Then, vigorously stir for 40 strokes until everything is once again shiny and smooth. (Alice instructs no more than 40 strokes, though I have noticed that after about 25-30 strokes the batter seems to be the uniform color and consistency you could move forward with).
With a Spatula, carefully scrape and level the batter into the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle the chopped Chocolate Chips evenly over the top of the batter, then transfer the pan to the oven.
Bake for 20 - 25 minutes (I typically bake mine the full 25 minutes), and when a toothpick is inserted in the center of the pan it will come out with batter still attached. DO NOT BE AFRAID. TRUST ALICE. REMOVE THE BROWNIES AT THIS POINT.
Sprinkle the top of the brownies with a light amount of Coarse Sea Salt.
Let the brownies cool completely IN the pan. This will allow the brownies to slowly continue baking and set.
Run the edge of a sharp knife along the sides of the brownies, then gently and carefully lift the entire thing out of the baking pan with the parchment paper. Cut into 16 or 25 pieces.