The recipe is from Chocolate: From Simple Cookies to Extravagant Showstoppers, by Nick Malgieri (Morrow Cookbooks, 1998). The recipe in the book calls for baking the brownies for “about 45 minutes.” I read multiple blogs regarding the same recipe, and most thought the brownies were better if taken from the oven after 30 minutes. Too long and they become too dry.
I don’t know why the author chose to call them supernatural…perhaps he thought they were “out of this world” good?
Supernatural Brownies
2 sticks (16 tablespoons) butter, more for pan and parchment paper
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark brown sugar, such as muscovado Don’t worry about “muscovado.” Plain old brown sugar will do the trick. Add a tablespoon of molasses if you want that extra dark rich flavor.
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or 3/4 cup whole walnuts, optional. I omitted these and added 1 cup of mini chocolate chips.
I added 1 tablespoon instant coffee crystals to the egg mixture.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Butter a 13-by-9-inch baking pan and line with buttered parchment paper.
In top of a double boiler set over barely simmering water, melt butter and chocolate together. Cool slightly. I melted the butter and chocolate separately in the microwave. Cover the butter or it may splatter. Melt it at 40% power for about 40 seconds. Check and give it a few more seconds on 40% until mostly melted. For melting the chocolate, I put it in the microwave for about 2 1/2 minutes on 40% power. If the chocolate is mostly melted but has chunks in it, don’t return it to the microwave. Stir it for a few minutes until the chunks are melted. Too long or too hot in the microwave can make the chocolate burn.
In a large bowl or mixer, whisk eggs. Whisk in salt, sugars and vanilla. I mixed by hand, no need to pull out the mixer.
Whisk in chocolate mixture. Fold in flour just until combined. If using chopped walnuts, stir them in. Or, as in my case, stir in the mini chocolate chips.
Pour batter into prepared pan. If using whole walnuts, arrange on top of batter.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until shiny and beginning to crack on top. Cool in pan on rack. I baked them for 30 minutes.
Yield: 15 large or 24 small brownies. I cut these into 30 squares and they were a perfect size to take to the church dinner. Larger would have been too much of a good (and very rich) thing.
The original recipe says: For best flavor, bake 1 day before serving, let cool and store, tightly wrapped.
There is no brownie in the world that is going to sit around here for 24 hours before being sampled. Sorry. That’s just the way it is. These brownies are delicious! DD said, “You are going to have to make more of these. A lot.” And she’s right. I had a favorite brownie recipe, but these are better. I guess I have a new favorite.
~~Rhonda 🙂
4 Comments
Oh my goodness, those look good. I guess it’s a good thing I don’t have 8 oz of bittersweet chocolate in my cupboard right now because otherwise – oh, the temptation.
Go get yourself some bittersweet chocolate, girl! They are worth it! 🙂 ~~Rhonda
Aren’t regular chocolate chips the same as bittersweet?
Caroline, by regular chocolate chips, do you mean semisweet? Semisweet may contain more sugar than bittersweet chocolate does, but they can be used interchangeably in a recipe. ~~Rhonda 🙂