classic brownies

One of B's bosses had a barbecue last night, so I made these brownies to bring. Fortunately, like most brownies, they were very forgiving. Somehow, I combined the butter, sugar, chocolate, and pecans but neglected to add the flour. (I really don't know what my deal is lately. I also almost wrecked the car yesterday--while B was driving.) I baked them fifteen minutes this way, realized what I'd done, and scraped them back out of the pan. I mixed them with the flour, baking powder, and salt and put them back in the oven, and they turned out just fine. Better than fine, actually. These are great brownies.



Classic Brownies (The New Best Recipe, Cook's Illustrated)

1 C pecans, chopped medium
1.25 C plain cake flour
.5 tsp salt
.75 tsp baking powder
6 oz unsweetened chocolated, chopped fine
12 TB unsalted butter, cut into six pieces
2.25 C sugar
4 large eggs
1 TB vanilla

Toast nuts on a baking sheet 5-8 minutes at 325 F. Melt chocolate and butter over a double boiler. Do not allow butter to separate. When melted, remove from heat and stir in sugar. Mix together flour, salt, and baking powder.

Spray 9 x 13" pan with vegetable oil and line with foil. (The CI folks claim this is to make the brownies easier to remove. It sort of seems like a waste of time to me.) Pour brownie batter into pan. Sprinkle nuts on top. (This is to prevent them from being steamed during baking.) Bake 30-35 minutes at 325.