PrintWhat Are Serious Eaters Doing on New Year's Eve? What's Your Favorite Brownie Recipe?
New Year's Eve usually drives me crazy. We can never figure out what to do. I hate going to restaurants, many of whom jack up their prices figuring people are so desperate to convince themselves they are doing something special that they don't mind paying the extra ducats. I don't like traveling far to a New Year's Eve party even in NYC because I don't like dealing with the crazies on the street and on the subways who are determined to suck everyone around them into their manic New Year's Eve behavior. So our rule of thumb on New Year's Eve is to go to a party in our neighborhood that we can easily walk to.
This year our good pals Eric and Eslee invited us to their apartment right down the street from us. We don't even have to cross a street to get to their party. We love Eric and Eslee (their son Max, Will's good buddy, is practically our second son), so we really look forward to going to their house. We're supposed to bring two desserts this year. Vicky would like to make brownies. What's the best brownie recipe you know? We like them both fudgy and cakey with nuts. C'mon Serious Eaters! We're counting on you.
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31 Comments:
The best brownies I've ever had are from Baking With Julia, also posted on Orangette here. They're a bit more involved than your typical brownie recipe, but more than worth the work.
Trader Joe's currently sells tiny brownies sprinkled with fleur de sel, and I've been thinking of trying that with my next batch.
Messily at 10:10AM on 12/31/07
So far it's Nick Malegieri's "Supernatural Brownies" but at some point soon I will try Dorie Greenspan's "French Chocolate brownies to compare.
phaelon56 at 10:23AM on 12/31/07
I'm not usually a big brownie fan, but I went nuts over David Lebovitz's dulce de leche brownies. Amazing.
gfroerer at 10:27AM on 12/31/07
'Cook's Illustrated's brownies (in 'The Best Recipe') are simple, quick, delicious, and have never let me down. Also, because the recipe is so simple, it's easily tweaked (espresso, various add-ins, gold leaf, what-have-you).
mongoose at 10:32AM on 12/31/07
I definitely echo the Baking with Julia recommendation. I've made a lot of brownies and never, ever found any that measure up to hers! Worth the (minimal) extra effort, ALWAYS a crowd pleaser, and it's quite obvious to everyone that they are real, homemade brownies (not from a mix).
jenberger at 10:39AM on 12/31/07
I enthusiastically second Nick Malgieri's Supernatural Brownies. According to http://tinyurl.com/343rpr, Malgieri absent-mindedly doubled the brown sugar when making brownies one day and accidently created this perfect balance between cakey and fudgey, just what a brownie should be.
floretbroc at 10:39AM on 12/31/07
I consider myself to be a bit of a baking snob - I love the more difficult recipes with hard-to-find ingredients. That said, I am almost ashamed to say my most favorite brownie recipe is an extremely simple one that can be found on the Baker's Chocolate website (www.kraftfoods.com/bakerschocolate) called "Raspberry Truffle Brownies." I usually bring these to potlucks and work luncheons and I always get people begging for the recipe. The brownies themselves look extremely deceiving because they appear to be so rich, but the raspberry makes them absolutely divine. I usually use a finer grade chocolate and a sugar-free seedless raspberry jam to make them. Good luck.
missmacchiato at 10:40AM on 12/31/07
I like this Maida Heatter recipe. The brownies are very chocolatey and fudgy.
Cathy at 10:48AM on 12/31/07
Can't bake beyond uber-forgiving recipes for cornbread and my grandmother's date nut bread (do what grandma wrote, you'll be okay).
Small town in Appalachia with an Indian restaurant means me and 13 or so of my closest friends can have a nice early dinner out before heading to new and super-cool pal's house around the corner from my place for a shindig. I'll be providing the baked brie with ginger/peach preserves in puff and the curried pea dip. Mmmmmmm.
kitchengeeking at 11:07AM on 12/31/07
whatever recipe i use i do a couple of my own twists- heavily buttering the bottom, especialy the corners and sprinkling a tiny bit of fleur de sel on that before i dust it lightly w/ good cocoa. i slather the butter so that it melts a bit over the edges of the batter during baking and you get a salty buttery crust.
and i use hot expresso for the liquid and throw that right on the cocoa powder which makes the chocolate flavor just sort of bloom.
butterscotched at 11:12AM on 12/31/07
Nick Malgieri's Supernatural Brownies are always a hit. and my standby. But for something more decadent, the Barefoot Contessa's outrageous brownies are great, too.
tracyw at 11:17AM on 12/31/07
I love the Barefoot Contessa Outrageous Brownies. They're incredibly good. Also, David Lebovitz's Dulce de Leche brownies are amazing. If I want something quick and easy, surprisingly, the one bowl brownie recipe on the back of a box of Baker's unsweetened chocolate is excellent.
Kerri at 11:24AM on 12/31/07
whoa - I think I'm out of my league in this crowd, but here's my current favorite: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/108346
I have a block against having to melt baking chocolate. Our twist is to swirl caramel ice cream topping into them before baking. These are very dense and rich.
ansate at 11:29AM on 12/31/07
There are a lot of good ideas here, but I don't think I've ever tasted a better brownie than Judith Sutton's in her charming little book, "Sweet Gratitude." Everything I have baked from it is delicious, matter of fact. But her fudgy brownies are as good as they get!
maryg at 11:42AM on 12/31/07
Just a minor correction to this comment:
"Malgieri absent-mindedly doubled the brown sugar when making brownies one day and accidently created this perfect balance between cakey and fudgey, just what a brownie should be."
The syndicated newspaper article I grabbed the recipe from described the history as Malgieri having doubled the recipe but forgot to double the flour. It ends up not only sweeter but way more chocolatey. I think the use of brown sugar prevents the sweetness from being cloying and the description of being in between cakey and fudgey is right on the money.
I suggest sticking to the low end of the suggested cooking times - it's easy to overcook these and they they become much more cake-like. not bad but not as good as they can be. by the way - I did an A/B bake-off of this recipe with one batch using Baker's Best and the other made with Scharfen-Berger. Even my non-food-savvy friends noted a HUGE difference (the SB brownies won every time).
phaelon56 at 11:45AM on 12/31/07
Nothing to contribute on the brownie end of things; my plans are making oyster stew (from the Grand Central Oyster Bar Cookbook) and drinking bubbles. On the stroke of midnight, I will be downing herring for good luck in the coming year. (A Norwegian tradition.)
BaHa at 12:00PM on 12/31/07
Oh, the brownies from Al Sicherman's cookbook "Caramel Knowledge", for sure. Brownie in a Cloud = heaven!
Nezrite at 12:01PM on 12/31/07
I make both Nick Malgieri and Barefoot Contessa. Everyone here knows I am a Nick groupy. I adapt the sugar in Nick's recipe swapping out brown for demara, muscavado or another moist natural sugar and it never lets me down.
Barefoot Contessa brownies are great for adding liquors to. Chambord or Kalhua.
Really Ed you cannot go wrong either way. Which ever one Nick or Ina they are both fabulous and I am sure they will be well received.
The Hubby and I are home alone tonight by choice since tomorrow we are having a crowd. We are going to order a pizza and watch the Futurama marathon I have tivoed. We have had a tough year and I am thankful it is over and that hope springs eternal for the new year.
I would like to thank you all for another year of being the fabulous SE community and crew. You collectively have made me feel more at home here than any other place on the vast internet.
Whatever you make tonight and tomorrow, make memories.
Love you all!!!
JerzeeTomato at 12:08PM on 12/31/07
I've baked several brownie recipies over the years, but I always go back to the one on the box of Bakers unsweetned chocolate. Just bake them about 5 min less than the instructions say, for fudgier brownies. And I always line the pan with aluminum foil (greased) for ease in getting the brownies out of the pan. Also, when I want to slightly embellish them, I cover them with a thin chocolate glaze.
SavtaShayna at 12:13PM on 12/31/07
My favorite brownie recipe is this one from the New York Magazine website - Chocolate Brownie
ejosef at 12:20PM on 12/31/07
Killing the last of the X-mas leftovers (goose enchiladas with mole) before a potentially problematic dance party tonight. Brownies sound good though ...
cmballa at 12:32PM on 12/31/07
I use a very old recipe from Katharine Hepburn. They're wonderfully fudgy and rich.
suegsf at 12:35PM on 12/31/07
The brownie base I use in this recipe is my favourite (just scroll to the bottom) partly because it requires cocoa instead of melted chocolate so there's really not as much of an argument over which type of chocolate to use. It's definitely open to the addition of nuts. Now I'm curious about all these other versions though!
Vincci at 1:12PM on 12/31/07
2 cups sugar, 5 oz melted unsweetened chocolate, 1.5 sticks melted unsalted butter, 1 tsp vanilla, 4 eggs, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 cup flour, 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional), 1 T espresso powder (optional). Bake in a buttered foil-lined jelly roll pan at 350 deg. F for 20 minutes. Top with peppermint stick ice cream. Die happy.
mcmvox at 1:30PM on 12/31/07
I'm a big fan of Lovescool's Champagne Brownies.. bubbles and dark chocolate.. perfect for New Year's!
dbdtron
dbdtron at 3:28PM on 12/31/07
This late in the day, I'm sure you've probably already made the brownies for the party. I agree with several others...both Nick's & Ina's are some of the best!
JEP at 4:42PM on 12/31/07
Don't mean to advertise for another blog site, but the best brownies I have ever made are nutella brownies as made by the Nook & Pantry blog site:
http://nookandpantry.blogspot.com/2007/04/nutella-brownie.html
DELICIOUS
karlamei at 7:09PM on 12/31/07
Nashville One Pan Fudge Cake...a recipe from the 1950s still rocks today..
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 squares dark chocolate
1 pinch salt
3/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cups nuts (broken your choice of nuts)
Melt butter, sugar and chocolate together in same pan. Sift flour and baking powder in to pan. Add eggs, vanilla and broken nuts. Add a bit of salt. Blend and pour into well greased square cake pan. Cook at 325 for 35 minutes. Cut into squares while it's hot, but don't remove til cooled. Makes 12 pieces.
adapted from the nashville seasons cookbook
the only way to make brownies.
MaryColeman at 11:41PM on 12/31/07
Dorie Greenspan's brownie recipe with a blondie baked on top...can't remember the exact title of this recipe off the top of my head -- but WOWZERS were they fantastic! She's my baking goddess! SHE ROCKS!
Jane M at 1:20PM on 01/01/08
I've been using more or less the same recipe for years that I altered slightly from a very traditional recipe by using brown sugar instead of white and bittersweet or semisweet chocolate instead of unsweetened.
Pre-heat oven to 350F.
Melt 4 oz. of best quality bittersweet chocolate with 1/3 cup of butter.
Remove from heat and add: 1 scant cup of brown sugar, 2 unbeaten eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or more, if you like), 1/2 cup flour, pinch of salt.
Mix until there are no flour streaks.
If you want to, add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans and/or chocolate chunks or chips.
Bake in a buttered 8" square cake pan for 23 minutes. The top should look dry. DO NOT OVERBAKE.
Lippy at 9:35AM on 01/02/08
So, Ed, what brownie recipe did you use?
floretbroc at 11:23AM on 01/02/08