Got Bored

So... yeah. As the blog title says, I was kinda bored. So I baked brownies. I said I would a few days ago in the event that there were no leftovers after the batch given to the archery club (and knowing the club, there would never be leftovers!). I happen to like the recipe that my sister found, which is over here. Except that for some reason, the brownies came out kinda wrong Wednesday night (it worked fine the first time I made them, but it was also during a warmer season). Not sure why since I followed the ingredient list and the instructions. Of course, there's also the issue of the house being perpetually cold, except for those stupidly hot summer days. Might have affected the batter negatively because of the melted chocolate mix cooling way too much.

So. Today. It was effectively a speed run brownie making session (I'm a gamer, speed-runs are probably inevitable to some at some point). Also changed a couple of things to reduce the chances of a dry brownie. So, below is what I did (and no, I'm not going to call them anything while wishing there was some wiki mark-up here):

Ingredients

* 5 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
* 2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
* 8 Tbs unsalted butter, cut into quarters
* 3 Tbs cocoa powder
* 2 Tbs instant espresso powder or instant coffee powder
* 3 large eggs
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 3/4 cup brown sugar
* 2 tsp vanilla extract
* 2 Tbs Kahlua liqueur (optional)
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and adjust the rack to the lower-middle position. Line a 9-inch square baking dish with foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides. Use another sheet of foil to line the dish perpendicular to the fist piece, leaving another overhang on two sides. Spritz with cooking spray.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugars, vanilla, Kahlua, and salt until well-combined.

3. Add the chopped chocolates and the butter to a medium, microwave-safe bowl, and heat in 30-second intervals, until melted, stirring well after each time. Whisk in the cocoa and espresso powder until smooth. Let it cool slightly.

4. Whisk the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, then stir in the flour with a wooden spoon. Add in chocolate chips if desired. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish, and spread into the corners with a spatula. Level the surface.

5. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs attached. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours.



So yeah. All I really did was change some of the sugar used and the order I did things. Namely that I changed the 1 1/4 of sugar to 1/2 cup white sugar + 3/4 cup brown sugar (the molasses should add a little extra moisture), and that I did the egg mixture first then melted the chocolate because of the colder environment. This ensured that the chocolate mixture didn't cool so much that the batter was near impossible to fold in the flour and spread in the baking pan. The end result was a somewhat dense brownie and it wasn't as crumbly as Wednesday/Thursday's result. Plus, chocolate chips. Knowing the people that would be eating these, the added chocolate isn't that much of an issue.

The original blog post that I got the recipe from also had frosting. Because I don't have that much of a sweet tooth, no frosting for me. Plus, it was pretty annoying making the frosting in time when I was covering for a certain someone for her potluck.