THE Brownies they are delicious desserts of American origin, with a very particular consistency, halfway between soft biscuits and a chocolate cake. The term “brownies” refers precisely to the color these delicious sweets take on once cooked: brownish, thanks to the chocolate, sugar and hazelnuts. The dough also provides a small portion of flourbutter, eggs and bitter cocoa, combined to form a single low and very moist cake, which will then go cut into squares to form individual brownies. Not exactly a light recipe, but certainly delicious and suitable for brunches, special occasions and birthday parties. The brownies can be served plain, dusted with icing sugar, decorated as desired with Chocolate frosting or served with a delicious scoop of vanilla ice cream. There isn’t a real rule, the important thing is that the main ingredient is always chocolate, preferably dark at 60%. The time to make these treats is 1 hour in total: quick and easy!

Preparation

1

Cut the chocolate into coarse pieces. Place it in a bowl or container suitable for cooking in a bain-marie and place it in a pan with water. Light the heat and let the dark chocolate melt, stirring occasionally.

2

While the chocolate is melting, add the butter. Stir vigorously with a spatula until completely dissolved. Let cool.

3

Meanwhile, in a pan, toast the hazelnuts over medium heat, moving them to prevent them from burning.

4

In a large bowl, pour the eggs, sugar and pinch of salt. Whip everything together with an electric whisk or a planetary mixer at maximum speed. You will have to obtain a frothy mixture, it will take about 10 minutes.

5

Add the now warmed chocolate and butter to the egg and sugar mixture. Mix for about 2-3 minutes with the whisk at medium speed.

6

Sift the 00 flour and cocoa directly into the bowl with the rest of the dough and incorporate by mixing with the whisk at medium speed, until you obtain a smooth and homogeneous dough.

7

Add the toasted hazelnuts to the mixture, incorporating them with a spatula.

8

Line a 25×20 cm rectangular mold with parchment paper. Pour the mixture and level it to obtain a uniform surface.

9

Bake in a static oven at 180° for 30 minutes. When the mixture is cooked let it rest, then turn it out onto a work surface.

10

Cut the dessert into squares, giving a decisive blow with the knife so as to cut the hazelnuts as well.

11

Serve on a serving plate.

Advice and tips

If you want to make your brownies even tastier, you can add some dark chocolate drops on the surface of the dough before putting it in the oven.

You can flavor the dough with spices to taste such as cinnamon, ginger, cloves and star anise.

You can replace the nuts with other peeled and toasted nuts, such as almonds, walnuts, unsalted peanuts or cashews.

You can also add dehydrated red fruits: soak them for 10 minutes in cold waterthen dry them and incorporate them into the dough together with the dried fruit.

The percentage of dark chocolate perfect for making brownies is 60%. You can also use 50% chocolate, the important thing is do not go beyond 70%because otherwise they would become too bitter.

It’s important to use the correct size pan in this case 25×20cm. A pan of different sizes could compromise the success of the sweets, making them dry too much or, on the contrary, making them stay raw.

The toothpick test to evaluate the doneness is completely useless on brownies, because the dough of these cakes it must remain moist. So try to follow the cooking times carefully. Wait for the mixture to cool completely before cutting it, otherwise your brownies will be uneven.

storage

Brownies can be stored for 3-4 days at room temperature, under a glass bell jar or sealed in an airtight container.

You can freeze them in freezer containers for up to 2 months.

History

It seems that the original brownie recipe was invented thanks to a particular request for Bertha Palmer in 1893, a very active woman in the Chicago social life, wife of the proprietor of the Palmer House Hotel. Mrs. Palmer asked a pastry chef friend to come up with a cake-like dessert that was easy to carry so she could share it with the women who attended the Chicago Columbian Fair taking place that year in the city. Thus was born a first version of brownies, which however did not contain chocolate: the ingredient was added in 1907 by Mary Willet Howard and the dessert became famous throughout the country under the name of “brownie”. There is also a version in which dark chocolate is replaced by white chocolate: these are “blondies”, whose name recalls the yellowish color of these sweets.