Carious: Kelly's Brownies

I've made brownies about 5 times so far. At my 4th, I just give up in despair because seriously, Betty Crocker is so much better and I just can't figure out where I was going wrong.

how to get that perfect fudgey-cakey balance with a rich chocolatey taste?! arrrrghhhhhhhhh

Then, Kelly came.

=O



It's THAT good.

Trivia!
Brownies also mean a division within girl guides that organizes birthdays and stuff. They even have Brownie pledges! o.O
From Wikipedia of course!

I could imagine my brownie pledge already.

I, Distracted-Student
Pledge to make these brownies once a month
and never to forget to fold in my crushed walnuts into the batter.

Yes... I crushed a handful of walnuts and totally left them out of the batter. Sigh.. Too busy licking the spoon I reckon..

Caries warning!
Drink plenty of water after having sweet foods to reduce the help alleviate the lowering of the pH in the mouth.



Recipe from Kelly!

As usual, I shrunk my recipe to a smaller one, 1 egg recipe. I like my brownies thin and slightly crisp too, like a softer-than-soft cookie. What am I talking about?! Blahh.

80g dark chocolate (+ extra handful to scatter in the batter)
40g unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar (I used coarse cane sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1/3 cup plain flour
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
handful of roughly chopped walnuts



Preheat the oven to 180deg Celsius.

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over boiling water, stirring occasionally until it has completely melted. I chucked it into a steamer though cause I was steaming some dumplings at the same time. Worked out fine too..



Beat the sugar, butter and vanilla together until thick and creamy. I used coarse sugar and it was an interesting experimental result! Not all of the sugar dissolved because it's really coarse. I ended up with hits of sugar crystals that made it just a tad crunchy. Yums...



Beat in the egg until incorporated.



Chuck in all the dry ingredients and the melted chocolate and stir! Now after the batter is formed, FOLD in whatever else you want to be in your brownie.. M'ms, peanut butter, chocolate buttons, WALNUTS, dried fruits.. Whatever that floats your boat! For me, the best complement to chocolate is, MORE chocolate. I'd have chuck in more chocolate pieces if I had any at hand. SIGH!



Accidentally get some batter unto your fingers! Oh the batter is thick THICK, like, spreadable thick. It won't flow around so don't expect it to..! =)

Bake for 30 - 35 minutes until the brownie comes away from the side of the tin. For the poking stick test, it should still have some small bits of batter clinging on to it i.e. it shouldn't come out CLEAN.



I used a 20cm by 5cm tin so my brownie was thin, the way I love it to be for my waistline too but alas..

Pressure points and top tips! (from trial and error) =D
1) Well, use the best chocolate bar and chocolate powder you've got/can afford. Seriously the difference is insane. I've actually bought a few good quality chocolate bars (Green and Black, Valrhona) JUST for my private brownie perusal those I won't share.. because the taste of the brownie is really just the quality of the melted chocolate. So, pick a good one!

2) Lick the batter before you put it into the oven.

3) Don't overbake brownies. It's amazing how a few minutes can change a moist brownie to a dry crumbly one. Been there twice, I'm ashamed to say.

4) There's nothing much about brownies, really, except just remember to share the love, and share the calories!