Super Fudgy Homemade Brownies!

My husband thinks these are the most amazing brownies in the history of brownies!

I got a lot of "brownie" points by making him these!

Soft Fudgy Brownies with just a touch of Flakey Sea Salt.

These ingredients are readily available at most supermarkets. I did my best with my kitchen scale to convert to grams/milliliters for our international friends.

• 3 sticks of unsalted butter (340g)
• 16 oz of bittersweet chocolate - I used 4 bars of Ghirardelli 60% (460g)
• 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar (550g)
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder (50g)
• 2 teaspoons salt (10g)
• 4 eggs - room temperature
• 4 teaspoons vanilla (20ml)
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (335g)
• Flake sea salt (optional)

Tools

• 8x8 inch (20.5x20.5 cm) square pan or 9x9 square pan (23x23cm)
• Parchment Paper
• Measuring cups and a teaspoon measuring spoon (or a kitchen scale)
• Medium size pot
• Bowls including a glass/metal one for melting chocolate
• Whisk/Fork
• Spatula

Place a rack in the middle of your oven and pre-heat to 325F degrees (160C).

Butter your 8x8 inch square pan (20.5x20.5cm) and layer with a piece of Parchment Paper and put some butter on the top of the parchment paper. If you want thinner brownies you can use a 9x9 pan (23x23cm).

Cut up the butter into small pieces and place in a microwave safe bowl. Be sure to cover or it may splatter and you will get a super messy microwave and microwave on 20% power for 1 minute bursts until it is just melted (not boiling) and set aside to cool a bit.

Roughly chop up the chocolate and portion it out as follows: 8oz (230g), 4oz (115g) & 4oz (115g). I chop it diagonally one way and then diagonally the opposite way. You want nice size chunks as viewed in the last picture. If you are using 4oz (115g) bars as I did simply chop up two bars and place in a one bowl and 1 bar each into two other bowls.

Place a pan with about an 1-2 inches (2.5-5cm) of water in it on the stove set to medium-low to medium with a glass or metal bowl on top. The bowl should not touch the water and the goal is to have the water simmering but not boiling. This is called a double-boiler or a Bain-marie. The simmering water is used to gently warm what is placed into the bowl.

Put the 8oz (230g) portion of chocolate into the bowl with the melted butter from the previous step and stir gently until it is smooth and melted as in the last picture. Shut off the stove and remove the bowl and wipe the bottom of any water and set aside to cool down.

NOTE: Be VERY careful when removing the bowl as it will be very hot and likely there will be some hot steam escaping from the side. Use oven mitts or a kitchen towel to protect your hands.

Place 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar (550g), 1/2 cup cocoa powder (50g) and 2 teaspoons salt (10g) in a bowl and whisk gently until combined. If you do not have a whisk just use a fork.

Add 4 eggs (room temperature - always bake with room temperature eggs since cold ingredients might cause the butter or other ingredients to clump) and 4 teaspoons vanilla (20ml) to the dry ingredients from the previous step and whisk together well until incorporated. It should like like the second picture where it is slightly thick and drips off the whisk in ribbons. Again, if you do not have a whisk you can make do with a fork.

Sift 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (335g) into the bowl from the previous step and use a spatula to fold together. The method I use to fold ingredients is to swipe the spatula around the side of the bowl and then through the middle continuing to do so until combined as in the last picture.

Add the butter/chocolate mixture and fold together until smooth.

Add 4oz (115g) of the roughly chopped chocolate and fold together. If you want more chocolate chunks inside the brownie feel free to add an extra handful from the remaining chocolate chunks. You will just have a little less to sprinkle on top in the next step but that is quite ok.

Place the brownie batter into the previously prepared pan and smooth out the top. This doesn't have to be perfect... just generally smooth.

Sprinkle the top with the remaining 4oz (115g) of chocolate. Try and evenly distribute it so each brownie gets chunks of chocolate on top.

Sprinkle with flakey sea salt (optional), not too much... maybe about a teaspoon (5g) or so. If you don't have flakey sea salt you can use regular table salt but only use 1/2 a teaspoon (2g).

Bake the brownies on the middle rack of your oven at 325F degrees (160C) for 1 hour.

After they are done baking, remove from the oven and let them cool down to room temperature.

Now for the hard part... Place the brownies in the fridge to chill for 1 hour.

I know you are going to want to cut a piece right away, but trust me it will fall apart.

Your patience will be rewarded!

After they are chilled, remove the brownies from the pan by pulling up at the parchment paper and place on a cutting board.

Cut them to the desired size. If you cut it in half both ways you will get 4 pieces. Do that one more time to each of the 4 pieces and you will have 16 pieces.

Take a bite and enjoy the Fudgy goodness with just a touch of salt!

If you make it I would love for you to tell me how it went and post a picture in the comments.