Chewy, dense, rich and fudgy brownies from the famous Baked bakery.
I don’t think I will ever reach my limit for trying new brownie recipes. I’m pretty sure I have experimented with dozens so far. More than any other dessert. It’s almost effortless to make, but yet so rewarding. A brownie will satisfy my craving for sweets for about 4 hours. Which is a lot.
On my last trip to NYC I really wanted to visit Baked bakery. Everywhere I travel, I have a ‘bakery list’ with me – kind of like a wish list. It’s always too ambitious, so I only end up getting to half of the places I wanted to visit. Unfortunately I didn’t make it to Brooklyn this time, so I had to skip over Baked. I did however make it to the famous Levian bakery (their giant chocolate chip cookies are the best!) and Bouchon bakery – one of my favorites!
But back to Baked 🙂
The guys behind Baked say they improved their brownies over the years, to make them more and more perfect. And I think they nailed it.
Their brownies are just perfect. They’re very rich – lots of chocolate, butter and eggs in there.
The espresso powder enhances the chocolate flavor, as does the small amount of cocoa they added. All the ingredients are there for a reason. A very good reason.
While the brownies are dense, they aren’t heavy. They aren’t too sweet either, if you use high quality chocolate (60-70 percent cocoa). I will admit that I don’t always use high quality chocolate (I’m not that picky with my brownies), but when I do, I can definitely tell the difference. Brownies usually taste similar to the chocolate you use to make them with – which makes sense after all. Therefore, choose a chocolate brand that you like – personally I don’t necessarily like the taste of all high quality chocolate products.
This recipe is simple. Just like I like it. Start by melting butter and chocolate. Whisk in sugar. Then, whisk in the first 3 eggs, followed by the 2 remaining. Add vanilla extract and stir. Don’t overmix after adding the eggs – this will create too many air bubbles, and the brownies will be cakey. Finally, add dry ingredients (cocoa, flour and salt) just until mixed.
Start checking the brownies 25 minutes after you put them in the oven. Baking brownies for just the right amount of time is the key to making them perfect. Always look for moist crumbs on the toothpick – no too liquidy and not dry. Overbaked brownies tastes like a dry cake and will not be fudgy as they were intended to be.
Baked have a lot of other really great recipes. I definitely recommend checking out their cookbooks.
The Baked Brownie
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups (155 grams or 5.5 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder
- 11 ounces (310 grams) dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup (2 sticks or 230 grams) butter, cut into small pieces
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder (or 1.5 teaspoons instant coffee granules)
- 1 ½ cups (300 grams or 10.5 ounces) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (100 grams or 3.5 ounces) packed light brown sugar
- 5 large eggs , at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350F/180C. Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
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In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt and cocoa powder together.
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Put the chocolate, butter, and instant espresso powder in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water and add the sugars. Whisk until completely combined, then remove the bowl from the pan. The mixture should be room temperature.
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Add 3 eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Add the remaining 2 eggs and whisk just until combined. Add the vanilla extract and stir until combined. Don’t overmix at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.
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Add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture and fold until just a bit of the flour mixture is visible.
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Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it. Let the brownies cool completely, then lift them out of the pan using the parchment paper. Cut into squares and serve.
Recipe Notes
- You can cut the recipe to half and bake it in a 8*8-inch pan for 20-25 minutes.
- Store the brownies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Brownies can be frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw them on the counter, still covered, or overnight in the fridge.
PS. Try out another one of my favorite brownie recipes, here!
dina says
they look like great brownies!
Shiran says
Thanks Dina! 🙂
Lilli @ Sugar and Cinnamon says
I saw a photo of these brownies on foodgawker and wanted to reach through the screen and just grab it! They look like the perfect level of fudgy and chocolatey brownie. Yum!
Shiran says
They are super chocolatey and fudgy 🙂 Thanks Lilli!
maumita says
Just perfect 🙂
Shiran says
Thanks Maumita! 🙂
Alexis says
What type of chocolate do you use? I’m a little ashamed to say my palette is not very mature lol. I’m concerned that if i get a high quality chocolate I won’t like it. How sweet is it with a higher quality chocolate compared to a lower one?
Shiran says
Hi Alexis! No need to be ashamed 🙂 I know what you mean though, because I used to stick to “basic” chocolate, not the high quality stuff and I still loved it. So if you’re used to a brand that you like, definitely use it. If you like the taste of it, you’ll like the brownies. Generally in baking, my favorite brands are Valrhona, Scharffen Berger and there are some more. I like to use high cocoa percentage, but again, use a brand that you know and like, and it’ll be fine 🙂 Semisweet or bittersweet chocolate is ok.
kevin says
Hi Shiran.
I m a former pastry chef from Paris, and I just found your site. Your brownie recipe is just perfect. I had to adjust for the cooking time, but once mastered this is the best recipe i know. Congrats for your recipes, looking forward to read the next ones. Cheers from Paris, France
Kevin
Shiran says
That’s so sweet of you Kevin! I love Paris so much.. you’re lucky! 🙂
Jackylyn says
I tried this recipe today… Best ever! Thank you!
Shiran says
So glad you loved it! Thank you! 🙂
Pitchai N says
Very Nice
HyunJu says
Hi, Shiran!
I enjoy your site, and finaly made this brownie yesterday.
This is so good!
I cut the recipe to half and baked it 30minutes(even I dont know why I did), so when I first remove it from the oven I realized what I mistake ㅠㅠ but it’s still delicious and today it comes more moisture! I’m gonna make this again trying not to be cakey. Thank you!^^
Shiran says
That’s great! I love brownies so much, and I have a few recipes on the blog. I can’t decide which one I love the most! They’re all different but very good. I’m so glad you liked this one! 🙂
Dave says
How do we get 5 eggs in half?
Shiran says
Use 2 and 1/2 eggs. For the 1/2 egg, stir 1 egg in a small bowl, and use half of it.
Pim says
I tried this recipe today and wonder why it doesn’t not look thick as in your pic? The taste is not dense as I though. May be I should change cacao.
Shiran says
Hi Pim, the brownies should be thick and dense. It’s hard to tell what went wrong without being there or seeing the process.
Drew says
Hands down best brownies, I have been looking for a good fundgy brownie recipe, and now I have it. Thank you, sooo much, you amazing intelligent and beautiful woman.
I use a Starbucks Via package for my java additive.
The chocolate does make all the difference, I will only use 70% cocoa and higher. Don’t use dark chocolate wafers unless you know what ingredients are in them, they can have too many other ingredients(palm oil and such), blah.
Irma says
Hey! Love the recipe! Im European and i noticed that the amounts in grams are not completely the same. So if you want to know.. flour is 160gr, salt is more like a big pinch, eggs are 5 regular eggs, and espresso powder is 1/2 a teaspoon. I noticed that our teaspoons are a bit bigger and other variables like those. Thank you for this amazing recipe! Love the clear describtion as well!
Niti Mayer says
Hi!
What can I substitute the eggs with? And what quantity
Yasmin says
Best brownies ever!! My daughter and I made these a few days ago and are making them again! I haven’t made any of the other brownie recipes, but after making these I don’t know if I will, lol. They were gone in 2 days! And this recipe calls for a ton of them. We use standard chocolate chips, what kind of chocolate do you recommend? We are in the US, very close to NYC. Thank you!!
Julie says
AMAZING BROWNIES! Best I’ve ever made/eaten! I’ve tried and seen so many recipes, this is by far the best! Sweet and fudgy, perfect chocolate flavor. Thank you so much! X