Deborah Rosenberg
My mother, a business woman, rarely baked, but when she did, I remember her throwing together the brownie recipe from the Mystery Chef Cookbook. As a matter of fact, that was her turn-to cookbook on the rare occasions that she did bake and, although I did have to watch how many I ate. My yearbook quote at high school was: “she can resist anything but temptation”. I did love those brownies downed with a tall glass of milk. Overtime, however, I decided that a brownie needed to be a little less sweet and more chocolatey. Over time, I revised the recipe until it got to where it is at Rosie’s. Little did I know that my brownie exploration would evolve many different recipes over the years.
Rosie’s Award-Winning Brownies
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
- 12 tablespoons (1 1/12 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup plus tablespoons chopped walnuts
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch square pan with butter or vegetable oil.
- Melt the chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler placed over simmering water. Cool the mixture for 5 minutes.
- Place the sugar in a medium-size mixing bowl and pour in the chocolate mixture. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, mix until blended, about 25 seconds. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Add the vanilla. With the mixer on medium-low speed, add the eggs one at a time, blending after each addition until the yolk is broken and dispersed, about 10 seconds. Scrape the bowl after the last egg and blend until velvety, about 15 more seconds.
- Add the flour on low seed and mix for 20 seconds; finish the mixing by hand, being certain to mix any flour at the bottom of the bowl. Stire in 1/2 cup of the nuts.
- Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of nuts over the top.
- Bake the brownies on the center oven rack until a thin crust forms on the top and a tester inserted in the center comes out with a moist crumb, 25 to 30 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a rack to cool for 1 hour before cutting the brownies. Serve the next day (it takes a day for the flavor to set) and don’t forget the tall glass of milk.
Makes 9 to 12 brownies
