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!
1 day 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.
12 days 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!
18 days 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.
21 days ago CassyB
Those are THE BEST!!!!!!!! Thank You so much for sharing!
3 months 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.
4 months ago LloJo
Oven type - convection /fan or......??
I am in Europe - should I use the fan for these, or top/bottom conventional heating? Thanks!
5 months ago Bluejade
These are fudgy brownies, rather than cake style brownies. I melted the butter in a microwave to about 75% melted before mixing in at step 2. That seemed to help the ingredients mix together easily. While the ingredients were cooking in the adapted double boiler, I watched them carefully and stirred a lot. The test of putting in a finger to see if it's hot enough worked for me, but a temperature would have helped, too. On the fourth finger test, I decided the mix was hot enough to stop cooking. I used a spatula to mix in the vanilla. After cooling a little, I whipped the eggs with a spatula sort of on top of the mix and then folded them in quickly. The eggs do make the mix shiny. If I make this again, I may add 3/4 cup flour. The mix with the flour is grainy, not super smooth. But that's similar to how brownies from the Ghiradhelli box mix look, too, before cooking. I had these in the oven at 325 for 21 minutes. The brownies looked too soupy to me. So thinking about the comments, I raised the temperature to 350 and left the brownies in the oven for 6 minutes. That got them to a more solid state, but I still could put a toothpick in and see the batter color the toothpick just a bit. I cooked these in a ceramic pan, but probably should have used metal. I also lined the pan with parchment paper. Maybe I should have coated that with a slight amount of butter and cocoa powder (substitute for regular flour). I took the brownies out of the pan by pulling up on the parchment paper and put that on a rack to cool. These are brownies to eat with a spoon, even after cooling overnight, because they are so fudgy. Still, I love that I could make brownies with items in the cupboard when I didn't have chocolate squares to melt.
6 months ago Catherine Dilworth
I won't be making these again because they turned out undercooked and disappointing. 325 degrees and only 20 to 25 minutes seems low for brownies. I wonder if some people used 350 and 25 minutes instead.
6 months ago Nash
You are right. I baked mine at 325 degrees for 40 minutes. The brownies came out perfect.
8 months ago Valerie Strait
Made them for the first time last night while being snowed in. I skipped the nuts but added pieces of caramel, sea salt and orange zest. Used a smaller pan. Turned out very well! Thanks for the recipe!
9 months ago Arthur
I love these and have been baking them for years! They are my favorite!
10 months ago Char
Made these late tonite. Everything turned out perfect. I prefer kosher salt but that's the only change I made. I bake frequently and I've learned a few tips that may help those who had less than perfect results. 'smoothe' means not lumpy. it does not mean liquidy or runny...doing so would surely ruin this recipe. I use a smaller rectangular metal pan, it makes for thicker brownies. Over mixing...by hand or by mixer is a bad move with all cakes and brownies. You want to mix just until its blended, unless u want a tough, dense outcome. Lastly, when checking a brownie specifically, you ALWAYS want to under bake pretty much everything a tiny bit...it continues to bake after its out of the oven...I learned that in 6th grade!
11 months ago sarahm852
So I made this last night and followed the directions exactly. I also spent a good deal amount of time going through the comments and questions section here. Yes, my batter was grainy but I waited it out. Yes it did smooth out *a bit* after beating in the eggs and mixing in the flour. The consistency was rather thick but I soldiered on. After baking, it seemed as if the butter had separated and had risen to the top of the bake. Like another commentator suggested, I waited for it to "sink back in." Unfortunately, my brownies ended up greasy tasting and rather unpleasant. The flavour was fine and I have no complaints about that, but everything else just seemed a little off.
Surely I can't be the only one who's had this problem...
11 months ago AAFoodie
I had the same experience and wondered if I mismeasured the butter. When they cooled, they were extremely hard and I threw them out. Any suggestions out there?
11 months ago Andreea Catalina Ros
If they turned out extremely hard once they cooled my guess would be that they were overbaked.
12 months ago Melanie Somerville
Made these last night, and for once, did not change a thing in the recipe. They were outstanding with a little dollop of coconut Nada Moo (non-dairy ice cream) on top. Best brownie. Thanks.
about 1 year ago Liaw Siew Yee
I'm really confused about the first step (the butter, sugar and cocoa powder step). I spent about 4 hours (sorry if I sound dumb) trying to make the mixture smooth, first in a double boiler, then placed the bowl on a pan filled with simmering water. The mixture was grainy and not smooth at all, so I gave up and moved on to the next step, which was to add vanilla and the eggs. When I added one egg, the mixture was super sticky and the egg white?/melted butter (I'm not really what the transparent liquid is) separated from the mixture and I tried mixing vigorously but they wouldn't come together. Can someone explain to me what went wrong and what is the expected look of the mixture from the first step? Thanks :)
about 1 year ago Kris
The mixture will be a bit grainy but the key is that there should be no lumps. If the melted butter is warm but not hot then this is easy. You don't want the mixture to sizzle or bubble or steam at any point. A double boiler is a pan of simmering water but you don't let the bowl touch the water. I think it's ok if the water boils a but as long as it doesn't directly touch the bowl on top
about 1 year ago Kris
Also you need to cool this mixture a but if it's hot so no separation happenswhen you add the eggs. I think what happened with you was the cocoa butter mixture git too hot.
about 1 year ago Liaw Siew Yee
Ah I see. Thank you so much. So just to confirm, the first step only requires about 5-10 minutes using a double boiler, for a slightly grainy mixture (due to the sugar) but a generally smooth texture from the mixture of cocoa powder and butter?
12 months ago Martin
This part threw me off as well. I kept cooking the mix trying to get it smooth and ended up burning the sugar and creating a hard rock of a texture. Complete garbage directions on this part of the recipe. It should really say, melt the butter. Then add the cocoa, sugar and salt. If you don't do that then you're in for failure here. And a bunch of wasted ingredients.
11 months ago Nicole Postal
This is my first time making these. (Mine are currently in the oven.) I have serious doubts that they will turn out at all. I had the opposite problem. My mixture over the double boiler was shiny and smooth. But when I added the vanilla and egg, it became grainy. Things only got worse when I added the flour. Let's put it this way: There was no "pouring of batter". It was more like smashing it down into the pan... :(
over 1 year ago Green Rider
I am allergic to nuts. What should would be a good substitute for the walnuts?
over 1 year ago Kris
You can leave it as it is . Are you looking for a crunchy substitute ? You could try rice crispies or granola clusters . These are just ideas , haven't tried it.
For non crunchy add in, I would recommend candied orange peel. Goes really well with the dark chocolate flavour or just orange zest. I have tried both.
9 months ago Arthur
Leave them out! I do!
over 1 year ago mornnen
Made these twice the 'featherlight' gluten free flour mix for my dad. Dad really approves of these.
over 1 year ago Denise
Fabulously life-changing. I've only made David Lebovitz's supernatural brownies for the last 10 years but I'll be switching to these. I used "raw" cocoa powder which I think is the same as natural? and switched out half the white sugar for brown. I browned the butter and then added 1.5 TB of water because the mixture looked dry and smitten kitchen says that you lose water when you brown butter. My batter still seemed very stiff and dry and I baked it for just under 30 minutes. Perfectly fudgey! These have a nice buttery flavor but I'm Not too sure if you can taste the brown butter--maybe? but I'll try it next time just regular butter. And the chocolate-ness is off the charts. Would never have expected powder to deliver such a deep dark rich cacao flavor.
over 1 year ago Makenna Phillips
Just a heads up, I work in a chocolate factory, and raw cocoa means that the beans used to make the powder weren't roasted first, which won't produce as much flavor as a roasted bean. It also leaves a lot of acidity in the chocolate which isn't very good for you. Natural means non alkalized. Love the idea to use a little brown sugar though!! I left out the flour and used Francois Pralus Cocoa Powder :)
11 months ago Denise
Aaaah. Thank you for the explanation. I purchased the raw powder on amazon and it was from some island, don't remember where. It certainly looked like the natural with a soft red color. Truth in labeling? I will have to try the Pralus cocoa powder.
over 1 year ago Carly
I made these brownies tonight. HOLY SHIT!!!! My cats went crazy. The smell of the brownies sent them off into some sexual deviance with our furniture. The began to claw and hump their way into the inside of each couch cushion. Other then that, the brownies weren't too bad.
9 months ago juliunruly
HAHA
over 1 year ago kumalavula
these come together easily and smell divine while in the oven.
i had to bake them almost 15 min longer than the recipe stated to get them cooked all the way through but so worth the wait!
i assume our girls basketball that's headed to compete at the state level will think so as well :) this recipe is a keeper!
over 1 year ago Debbie
Rich and delicious. I followed the recipe as written and they turned out fantastic. Too bad the company I was expecting didn't come and get to experience these. My husband keeps sneaking out to the kitchen to get another "bite." This will be my new go to brownie recipe. Thank you Alice for a terrific recipe.