Brownies

It's the first time that I am giving out homemade cookies to friends for Christmas. And I started out with these scrumptious brownies adapted from a recipe of RFCer Barb Schaller. It won first prize in a Minnesota State Fair. I like my brownies 'cakey' rather than 'fudgy' which this perfectly fits the bill. Crumbly, moist, rich, and very chocolatey - quite good with a hot cup of tea or coffee. I have to give strict instructions to my kids not to touch it otherwise I will be left with an empty plate by the time I get home. I do hope they obeyed me. :)


Classic Chocolate Brownies

1 cup [250 g] unsalted butter
250 g  unsweetened baking (dark) chocolate (70% cocoa content)
2 cups [400 g] granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1 1/3 cups [190 g] cake flour or plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C/fan 160°C/gas mark 4. Grease and line with grease proof paper (parchment paper) a 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
2. In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt (see note below).
3. Melt the chocolate and butter in a separate heatproof bowl set on a saucepan with simmering water. Blend well. When everything is melted and blended, remove from saucepan and cool slightly.
4. Mix in sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Mix well (if required use wire whisk at this point).
5. Add vanilla, mix well. Add in nuts.
6. Using a wooden spoon, fold in flour mixture and stir only enough to moisten dry ingredients.
7. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 33-35 minutes. Do not overbake! The centre when pierced should have moist crumbs but not wet batter.
8. Remove from oven and cool in the baking pan for about 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack. Cut into 2-inch squares.

Note: If you do not have cake flour, use all purpose flour but replace 1 Tbsp for every cup with cornflour/cornstarch; though I've used just plain flour here and it didn't seem to affect the result much.