Alice Medrich's Best Cocoa Brownies
Author Notes: This recipe is one part of a master brownie recipe Medrich designed to use whatever chocolate you have in the house -- but the best version happens to be the one that only requires cocoa powder. By taking out the chocolate, with its inevitable fat and almost-inevitable sugar, Medrich was able to control and fine-tune the proportions of both. When she added back in the fat (via butter), the middles stayed softer. When she added back in granulated sugar, the crusts were shinier and more candy-like. Any cocoa will work, but natural (not Dutch process) will taste more richly of chocolate. Recipe adapted slightly from Bittersweet (Artisan, 2003) —Genius Recipes
Makes 16 large or 25 smaller brownies
- 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks, 140 grams) unsalted butter
- 1 1/4 cups (250 grams) sugar
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (80 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cold large eggs
- 1/2 cup (65 grams) all-purpose flour (unsifted, measured by stirring briefly, spooning into the measuring cup until it's heaped above the rim, then leveling it with a straight-edged knife or spatula -- it should weigh nearly 2.5 ounces)
- 2/3 cup (65 grams) walnut or pecan pieces (optional)
- Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.
- Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir from time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot.
- Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in the nuts, if using. Spread evenly in the lined pan.
- Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack.
- Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.
- This recipe is a Community Pick!
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about 1 month ago Plantlust
My version, cut sugar to one cup. Whirred sugar in food processor until superfine. Added 1/8tsp of espresso powder. Followed rest of recipe but let batter rest in pan refrigerated overnight before baking. Superb results! Fyi- version with port soaked dried sour cherries added is wicked good.
4 months ago noknok
Just baked this using the weight measurements. At 20m they were liquid at the center when jiggling the pan. 40 minutes & a long rest... and they are still quite raw on the bottom. I literally flipped them over and put them under the broiler! What a mess.. in the future, I think I'd be inclined to try a higher heat and place them in the middle of the oven instead of bottom third. And add more cocoa or flour, or maybe both. This recipe needs a serious amount of tweaking, :(. Bummed! I usually love Alice Medrich recipes.
6 months ago Leslie VB
May I ask.. Did anyone make these in Higher Altitude like over 4000' If so what adjustments did you need to do?? Thanks much,
5 months ago Cate
I added an egg, increased the vanilla to 1 teaspoon, and increased baking temp to 375 at 6,000 ft above sea level. Play with it until you find the right mix. Good luck!
7 months ago Christina
My brownies came out great, but how on earth are you supposed to get 16-25 brownies? I literally got 6 normal sized brownies out of this....
6 months ago juliunruly
They're so rich that I cut them very small. I always cut to yield 16 from an 8x8 pan.
8 months ago judy
i make a version of these using whole wheat pastry flour. Works great.
6 months ago Colin
Would like to use wholemeal too...any modifications to other ingredients required? Thanks....
8 months ago Laurie Brown
I'm a regular baker and have tried many brownie recipes. This is my new go-to favorite for brownies. They're fudgy and so chocolatey. I have to bake mine for about 40 minutes and I read the comments and saw a lot of people that over cooked the first step trying to get it "glossy" instead of letting it be granular and stopping the cooking when you can no longer hold your finger in the mixture. If you cook it too long and boil it, it will turn into a rock. Just follow the instructions and you'll be golden. But make these. They're so frickin' worth it!
9 months ago Aisha O'Connor
My daughter said they "stuck to the roof of her mouth," and not in a good way. Followed recipe exactly, but other comments were correct in that 25 mins baking time is nowhere near enough! I guess I don't like fudge-like brownies. At least I won't be tempted to eat these and sabotage my diet, LOL.
11 months ago Heather Gleiser
These are amazing, although the baking time is way, way off. These took 41 minutes at 325 on the center rack of my oven in an aluminum pan. The butter also took a while to melt into the dry ingredients so I think I'll cut it into chunks the next time to speed the process.
11 months ago Tini Trimble
I completely omitted the flour at the end (unintentionally) but the result was so moist and delicious that I'm unsure the recipe needs it. It was a total hit!
12 months ago Southwestsam
Thank you to the cooking community! The comment about the sugar butter cocoa mix just needing to be melted and cooked a little was so helpful as I had started to wonder if I should have used caster sugar instead. I will try the other suggestions to melt this together as I did find this part of the process cumbersome. The smoothness of the mix after adding the 2 cold eggs is almost like magic. I forgot to add my walnuts so will do that next time as well as dropping the sugar and substituting almond meal. The mouth feel of the chocolate for this recipe is amazing! Perfect for all the chocoholics out there. Thanks everyone!
12 months ago Southwestsam
I y! . I I iI . I a . 2 . I ? a e. g!!! m
12 months ago Drew Faber
According to
http://www.traditionaloven...
¾ cup of cocoa is 88.50 grams
2 tablespoons of cocoa is 14.75 grams
So, the total would be 103.25 NOT 80 grams. That is a large variance.
12 months ago QJ
Drew, your comment is very helpful. I've made this recipe several times with good results. But, when I read your comment and looked at http://www.sassyradish..., I used 105 grams of cocoa and was delighted with the results. Thank you.
about 1 year ago Ascender
I learned from my depression-era mother that cocoa powder tastes more chocolaty if cooked with something containing fat for a few minutes. Don't let it burn! That is the purpose of mixing everything with the cold butter THEN melting the mixture over a double boiler. If you're really careful, you could melt the butter in a heavy pan over very low heat instead.
about 1 year ago Michelle de Lima
I love this recipe. I usually omit the nuts and reduce the sugar by 1/4 cup. I find that, as with most recipes calling for parchment, buttering (and in this case, dusting with cocoa) is completely sufficient. I wish recipe writerw would think twice before including disposable products.
about 1 year ago Suzy Shedd
I've been making these for a while now -- best. brownies. ever. However the double boiler step is too convoluted. Basically, you can think of these as chocolate blondies. Just melt the butter in a pan on the stove on a lowish-medium temp (you don't want it to sizzle) and, as soon as it's liquid, turn down the temp & stir in the dry ingredients. The ingredients come together much faster & more smoothly, and there is nothing here that needs double-boiler treatment.
I got this recipe from another site where they recommended freezing the brownies after they had finished cooling in the pan. This technique seems to help all bar cookies, and it keeps these fudgy, dense, and perfect. (They come to eating temperature surprisingly quickly once removed from the freezer.)
6 months ago Colin
Suzy...thanks so much for the tip about simplifying the recipe. I'll raise a brownie to you next batch!
6 months ago Colin
Just another question Suzy...how long to you bake the mixture at 325F for? Is there some leeway depending on the texture desired? Regards...
6 months ago Suzy Shedd
I had good results with the time in the recipe, but they are the way I like them -- almost, but not quite, spoonable. They take a while to set up & the freezing step helps with that. I see no reason why you can't bake them a little longer (5-7 minutes, maybe?), but I'd be careful because brownies go from perfect to rock-like pretty fast. Helps to make sure your oven is running at the temp it says it is.
6 months ago Colin
Thanks Suzy...some folks said 40 minutes! Seems like a long time to me...I have an oven thermometer and will use that...I'll play with the timimg and settle on a texture I like...regards from Downunder!
6 months ago Colin
By the way...does the freezing happen after cutting? I assume you cut them into pieces when cool and place them in tupperware or similar, then into the freezer?
6 months ago Suzy Shedd
Yes -- cut first; then freeze. SO good!
about 1 year ago joan
Yup. These are the best brownies. New idea to try: zest an orange and add with the vanilla for new twist... I will never look back.
about 1 year ago Debra Li
These are my absolute favourite brownies to bake - I have never looked back. Everyone loves these when I bring them to work or social gatherings!
about 1 year ago kumalavula
just a twist that i added as i baked these again today: i added a mashed, overripe banana to the ingredients in the double boiler. it smelled so good and seemed to blend effortlessly with everything before putting it in the baking pan to bake. i also included walnuts so if you're into chocolate, walnuts and bananas, i;d say this addition is for you.
about 1 year ago CassyB
Those are THE BEST!!!!!!!! Thank You so much for sharing!
over 1 year ago Andre Skiles
I've made these a couple times and they are the best brownies I've ever had.
Like others mentioned, I bake them a bit longer - about 28 minutes last time, with an extra oven thermometer to make sure the temp is precise.
Showing 30 out of 184 comments