supernatural brownies

chocolate for brownies.JPG
The other day I decided I just needed to have some baked chocolate treats. I had cut out a recipe for Supernatural Brownies, so I gave them a try. You know about the whole brownie debate–chewy vs fudgy vs cakey and all that. I prefer my brownies to be chewy and dense. The Supernatural Brownies were supposed to be the great equalizer of brownies, the perfect blend of ultra dense and crumbly or something.
I forgot to take a photo of the finished product. Suffice it to say that they were quite delicious. They were very chocolatey (I chose to use the chocolates pictured above. I had some Hershey’s baking chocolate on hand as well, but it had a lower cacao content, and I thought I’d go for dark dark dark with the first batch) and flavorful. They had a nice chew, but I’m thinking I like my brownies even chewier (guess I’ll just have to experiment some more!).
Read on for the recipe …


Supernatural Brownies from the NY Times
Adapted from “Chocolate: From Simple Cookies to Extravagant Showstoppers” by Nick Malgieri
2 sticks unsalted butter cut into chunks, plus extra for greasing the pan
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I didn’t use ultra fancy chocolate, but I’m guessing the nicer the chocolate, the more flavorful the brownie?)
4 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup dark brown sugar, such as muscovado (I just used regular old dark brown sugar)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flour
You can add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, but personally I think nuts in brownies is just WRONG
1. Butter a 13×9″ baking pan. Line with buttered parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt the butter and the chocolate together in a double boiler or in the microwave on low power. Cool slightly.
3. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Whisk in the salt, sugars, and vanilla. Whisk in the chocolate mixture. Fold in the flour just until combined. Don’t overmix. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 35-40 minutes or until the brownie is shiny and starting to crack on top. Cool in the pan on a rack.
For best flavor, bake a day before serving.

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21 Responses to supernatural brownies

  1. kristi says:

    There is a recipie in the ‘Everyday Food’ magazine (the little one by the M. Stewart magazine people) that is very, very good. Nice and fudgy. I like chewy brownies too. The issue has brownies on the cover even, and they are super easy to make.

  2. Heather says:

    Gee with a name like ‘Supernatural’ you’d think those brownies would have another, ummm, green herbal ingredient!

  3. Anna says:

    My favorite brownie–well brownies give me heartburn and this is the only one that doesn’t–is a recipe from Katharine Hepburn. The only place I know you can get it is in this cookbook. I’m with Heather on the supernatural name.

  4. Cirilia says:

    Yeah, I’m with Heather, I was really hoping for some Stone Mariko craft craziness!!
    OHHHH, and I have the new Croc Cleos–they are awesome, and possibly even cuter than the Primas!

  5. Cirilia says:

    Yeah, I’m with Heather, I was hoping for Crazed Stoned Mariko Crafting!
    Also, I bought the Croc Cleo sandals and they might be even cuter than the Primas!

  6. Cirilia says:

    Uh, whoops, I thought my comment hadn’t appeared. I’m happy to know that my memory is aight!

  7. sara says:

    I halved the recipe and tried it recently. They were good but still missing a little something. I wonder if halving it made a difference?

  8. Gina says:

    You guys — the one-bowl brownies (recipe on the Baker’s Chocolate box) are the best I’ve ever had. And I know you don’t know me — but I’ve had a lot of brownies. A LOT.

  9. ann says:

    why is there a Step #2 at the end of the recipe?

  10. Cindy says:

    I love Foster’s Brownies in the Foster’s Market Cookbook(great cookbook). She (Sarah Foster) appears frequently on Martha Stewart (Her rolls are also delicious and the recipe can be found on Martha’s site). Her brownies are fabulous —fudgy and chewy! The recipe makes a huge pan!
    Cindy
    http://www.skiptomylou.wordpress.com

  11. Suebob says:

    I took a baking class with Nick Malgieri and he was just delightful. He made 5 desserts from scratch in under 3 hours, including icing a princessetorte with fondant. They were all good. My favorite were little almond butter cookies called Jan Hagels, or maybe this crazy plain looking cake that had white chocolate melted into the batter, so it was a dense, rich, mysterious thing.

  12. Asaknitter says:

    That’s it – chocolate brownies for dinner! Thanks for the recipe – heading to the store right now.

  13. emily says:

    Hey Ms. M,
    I’ve been a brownie fiend lately…I’ll have to give those a go. If you get a sec, could you let me know how you do that “after the jump” thing with the recipe? I’ve been very curious about how to do that with my longer posts.
    Excited for new fabric!
    xoxo,
    emily

  14. Kathy says:

    I just made those last week – soooooo freaking good! I underbaked a wee bit, which made them denser and fudgier. Yum.

  15. knitopia says:

    Someone I know made a batch of these and gave me some the day they were made. I can tell you they really did taste better the next day. Weird!

  16. Deb says:

    I favour chewy brownies as well so I bake them in monster muffin tins, a shallow layer of batter so I end up with about a 3/4″ thick brownie. They go nice and chewy at the edge and the center is moist and dense. Yum!

  17. amy k. says:

    okay-
    were these some of the brownies I was sent home with!!?? because they were CRAZY good. I ate them so fast that I forgot to even thank you. i suck. they made me high. you should be arrested.

  18. Krissy says:

    ITA, chewy brownies are the way to go. But considering I am a confessed chocoholic, I may have to try these!

  19. Krista says:

    A little hint for extra chew:
    The people at Cook’s Illustrated magazine always say that adding an extra egg yolk or two adds chewiness to baked goods. I see your recipe here has just whole eggs. Extra egg yolks might give it extra chew if you feel like experimenting (works on cookies, too).
    Speaking of Cook’s Illustrated, they have a very good brownie recipe. They also have another I haven’t tried before that claims to be chewy. You have to get a subscription to view their recipes online, but here’s one with the same name, and I won’t tell you it isn’t an exact copy…
    http://www.recipelink.com/mf/31/3041
    here is another of theirs (this is the one I’ve made that was very tasty) – again, I won’t tell you it isn’t an exact copy.
    http://www.recipezaar.com/85821
    A little bad girl tip. It seems people copy their recipes a lot. You can browse and search their recipe archives all you want without being able to actually view a recipe. If you google the recipe’s exact name, you often end up with a copy of it elsewhere. I don’t condone the copying, but there you have it…

  20. Julie says:

    Huh… I just bought a bar of that Lindt 70% cocoa chocolate this weekend. I like dark chocolate but that was just a tiny bit bitter for me – one square a day is plenty.

  21. Mari Fernan says:

    Thanks for the recipe. I plan on giving it a go. Unfortunately I do not have Ghirardelli Chocolate in Germany but I know what to replace it with..Hachez. Its da bomb!!
    Supernatural is a wonderful name for a brownie mix!!
    Mahalo
    Mari
    Germany

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