Magic Espresso Brownies

I used to spend a lot more time on the Food52 website, when they were more about community recipes and less about selling upscale and up-marked household items. When Food52 Baking (the cookbook) came out almost 5 years ago, these Magic Espresso Brownies graced the cover and I decided they were the obvious first recipe to test.

Except, from the beginning, I ran into several stumbling blocks with these Magic Espresso Brownies:

Recipe testing woes

1) What baking recipes calls for extra-large eggs? Apparently this one and the recipes from Cookie Love. I didn't have any, so I soldiered on with large eggs and figured they would be rich enough.

2a) Normally you stir in the chocolate chips. I saw chocolate chips and completely skimmed over the part that they should be sprinkled over not stirred in. Turns out sprinkling the chocolate chips over the batter makes a huge difference. If you stir them in, they all sink to the bottom.

2b) I don't believe nuts belong in brownies. I skipped the nuts.

3) Who has a rimmed half-sheet (13x18") baking pan? Perhaps surprisingly, not I. Instead, I completely misread the recipe and thought it was really calling for a 9x13" pan. After 23 ½ minutes, my brownies were nowhere close to being baked. After 40 minutes, my brownies were still molten. At 50 minutes, my brownies were finally just barely set (and I was 40 minutes late to hit the road for DC from NJ).

4) Who frosts their brownies? Apparently a lot of people, but I'm against it. Especially in this case. I think the frosting adds sweetness without adding anything else. But, that's just my opinion. I like vanilla ice cream with my brownies, the frosting isn't really critical there. If you love frosted brownies, you can find the recipe here (just halve it for this 9x13 pan).

Since that fateful first bake, I've made these brownies at least 10 times, and probably 5 of those times were in the last few months. Up until last weekend, I'd always made them with the original proportions (8 eggs, 2 sticks butter, etc.); effectively twice the thickness the author envisioned with her original recipe. They are the pinnacle of luscious, super fudgy, deeply dark chocolate, ultra-thick and rich brownies. My ultra-rich version of ChefJune's Magic Espresso Brownies require at least a full day to set up and they serve a lot of people.

A thinner version

After the ninth time making them that way, I thought, “Maybe I should make them closer to the way they were intended to be made before posting the recipe”. Thus, I divided the batter ingredients in half, pour into a 9x13" baking pan, and bake closer to 25-30 minutes. This yielded brownies that were roughly ¼-1/3 as thick as the brownies I'd been making before. They are much less dense and easier to eat without covering yourself in chocolate. They taste almost as good, without requiring precisely as much nerve-wracking wonder about whether the jiggle at 47 minutes is the right wobble to stop at, or whether you should keep baking another few minutes (keep baking another few minutes). You also don’t need to wait a whole day to eat them; letting them cool completely to set is sufficient, but you can also eat them warm and they’d be a gooey, delicious treat. However, they don’t keep nearly as well as the thicker version do, with a maximum shelf life of 36-48 hours, after which they definitely decline in flavor and texture. In my opinion, the ultra-thick version is the one to bake. Still, Caleb prefers the thinner version (just barely), in part because they are easier and less messy to eat.

Brownies with a kick

Ages ago, I made the creole brownies from Back in the Day Bakery. I thought these Food52 magic espresso brownies were pretty similar, except they are missing the spice, cocoa nibs, and they weren't quite as dark chocolate-y. On the other hand, these are more than double in thickness compared to the creole brownies. So, if you love crunchy bits of chocolate and a little cayenne in your brownies, maybe make Cheryl’s creole brownies sometime. In the meanwhile, these brownies should satisfy even the most desperate chocolate craving (unless it’s for milk/white chocolate).

Making magic espresso brownies

Recipe as written makes the thicker, fudgy version. If you prefer thinner but still fudgy, you should make the half batch size - halve the recipe and bake for roughly 24-32 minutes, until just barely wobbly.

Adapted from Food52 Baking

Magic Espresso Brownies

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Chocoholic

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 47 minutes minutes

Resting time (post-bake): 1 day day

Total Time: 1 day day 1 hour hour 17 minutes minutes

Servings: 24 people

Ingredients

• 3 cups (630 grams) dark brown sugar lightly packed
• 1 cup (8 ounces; 2 sticks) unsalted butter* at room temperature
• 8 large eggs at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1½ cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour
• ⅔ cup (74 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
• scant 2 cups (10 ounces) high-quality chocolate chunks e.g., TJ's pound plus dark chocolate

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a 9-by-13-inch half-sheet pan then cover the bottom and sides with parchment paper for easy brownie extraction and clean-up.
• Using an electric mixer on medium-low speed, mix the brown sugar and butter in a large bowl until blended but not fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
• Add the eggs one at a time, mixing at medium speed after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Mix in the vanilla and salt. Turn the mixer to medium-high speed and beat for 30 seconds.
• In a medium bowl, sift (seriously-it's annoying but it matters) together the flour, cocoa powder, and espresso powder. Pour into the wet batter and mix on low speed, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl often, until just mixed. Fold in half the chocolate chunks.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan, then sprinkle the top evenly-ish with the remaining chocolate chunks.
• Bake for 47-52 minutes (this time will really depend on your oven). Because of the chocolate, a toothpick test won't help here. The batter should show the barest hint of a wobble in the middle of the pan. Allow the brownies to cool overnight or chill in the freezer after they've cooled to room temperature. These need the overnight rest for the maximum flavor to shine through.

Notes

*If baking for someone who is lactose-intolerant, you can replace the butter with Crisco. The brownies aren't quite as amazing, but they are still really good.

 

* If making the thinner version, cut recipe in half and bake for 24-32 minutes.