Okay, okay….this recipe has very little to do with purely Canadian ingredients but I’ll defend it as part of our historical culinary tradition. Get yourself the best chocolate you can find. I was lucky enough to be given 1 kg of Cacao Barry’s single estate chocolate pieces as a thank you gift for participating as a judge in Gold Medal Plates. However, I have made them with good bittersweet chocolate bars that seem always to be on sale around the holiday season in our big grocery stores.
These buttery brownies are meant to be very, very moist…almost fudge-like. They won’t look baked when you remove them from the oven to cool. And cool they must! Don’t even go near them with a knife till they’re at room temperature unless you have an eager 10 year old, as I did, in the wings. We sampled a tiny corner piece and you’ll see a finger print in the top when we took it from the oven. Whoops?
Another word of advice, I use a large saucepan and once the butter/chocolate is melted together, it becomes the mixing bowl.
- ¾ cup (175 mL) unsalted butter
- 6 oz (170 g) bittersweet chocolate
- 2 ¾ (675 mL) cups granulated sugar
- 2 tbsps (30 mL) vanilla
- ½ tsp (2 ml) salt
- 4 eggs
- 1 ½ cups (375 mL) all purpose flour
- 1 cup (250 mL) chocolate chips or chopped bittersweet chocolate
Liberally oil a 9 x 13” glass baking pan. Preheat the oven to 350’F (180’C)
In a large saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate over VERY low heat. Remove from the stove and set on a tea towel to protect your counter. Whisk in the sugar, vanilla and salt till it’s all incorporated. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Dust in the flour using either a sifter or a strainer and mix till no dry spots remain. Fold in the remaining chocolate chips or chopped chocolate.
Spread batter evenly in the baking pan; bake 30-35 minutes. No longer. Let cook completely before cutting.
Makes 24 perfect brownies. Share generously!
