Chocolate is a Girl's Best Friend

Usually in the afternoon, when I need something to get me through the rest of the day I always reach for something chocolaty.  Most days it's a piece of Dove dark chocolate or dark Hershey kisses but occasionally I like to have something extra special.  This past weekend I decided to try a recipe from my latest issue of Bon Appétit, Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter and Walnuts.  Growing up brownies were another go to dessert in our house.  My mom and I loved making them together, her taking care of washing the dishes and me licking the bowl and spoon, despite the fact there were raw eggs in the batter.  This particular recipe is rich and fudgy and are best enjoyed with a large scoop of ice cream or whipped cream.  I'm sure this recipe would be great as is but I decided to make a couple of changes.  I really like brown sugar so I substituted some of the granulated sugar with brown and I thought I would try out whole wheat pastry flour in place of AP flour.  They turned out amazing and I will be making these again, maybe even next time spreading them with chocolate or peanut butter frosting to make them extra rich.  Enjoy!

Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter and Walnuts
From Bon Appétit Magazine – February 2011

Makes 16 Servings

Ingredients:

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 1/4 cups sugar (I cut back on the sugar and used ¾ cup granulated sugar and ¼ cup light brown sugar)
• 3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (spooned into cup to measure, then leveled)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, chilled
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon unbleached all purpose flour (I substituted whole wheat pastry flour)
• 1 cup walnut pieces (I used 2/3 cup walnuts)

Directions:

1. Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 325°F. Line 8x8x2-inch metal baking pan with foil, pressing foil firmly against pan sides and leaving 2-inch overhang. Coat foil with nonstick spray.
2. Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking until butter stops foaming and browned bits form at bottom of pan, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; immediately add sugar, cocoa, 2 teaspoons water, vanilla, and 1/4 teaspoon (generous) salt. Stir to blend. Let cool 5 minutes (mixture will still be hot). Add eggs to hot mixture 1 at a time, beating vigorously to blend after each addition. When mixture looks thick and shiny, add flour and stir until blended. Beat vigorously 60 strokes. Stir in nuts. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
3. Bake brownies until toothpick inserted into center comes out almost clean (with a few moist crumbs attached), about 25 minutes. (I took mine out after 20 minutes)  Cool in pan on rack. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Cut into 4 strips. Cut each strip crosswise into 4 brownies.