This is much harder than it should be - looking for a good brownie recipe

Cafe Society
1

I baked brownies on Friday, and they bombed miserably. I’ve tried several recipes to get a nice, moist cake-like brownie, and I’m not having much success. The recipe that bombed Friday is this one:
3 eggs
2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup flour
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup chocolate chips

I don’t know what wrong - the brownies were in a 350ºF oven for an hour instead of 30 minutes because the batter wasn’t even touched in the middle after the 25 minutes on the recipe - they are a fallen, flattened, gummy mess now, with the edges kind of hard and crumbly. Anybody know what I did wrong? Anybody have a no-fail brownie recipe that makes rich, moist, cake-y brownies (not chewy, gooey ones) (preferably with cocoa powder, not chocolate squares - I never have chocolate squares).

2

I’ve always had good luck with the recipe on Fry’s cocoa, which is similar to yours but with more butter and four eggs. Eggs are a leavening agent, and butter helps prevent fallen cakes. Given your altitude, that also might be affecting the rising process.

3

I’ve always used the recipe on the box of Hershey’s cocoa. To make them extra scrumptous, dump a can of German Chocolate (coconut, pecan, caramel) cake frosting, into the batter.

4

The Brownies Cockaigne recipe from Joy of Cooking is absolutely foolproof and incredibly good.

5

The best brownies in existence:

1 cup of softened butter
2 cups of sugar

Mix well, then add 5 eggs.

Mix, then add a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of vanilla.

Mix, then add 1 3/4 cups flour

Mix, then add 1/2 cup cocoa.

Mix, then add some chocolate chips (and nuts, if you want them)

Pour into a greased 9x13 pan, and sprinkle more chocolate chips on top.

Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, until done. They should be slightly gooey on the inside. Taste, then come back and thank profusely.

6

If your baking powder is old it won’t react properly.

I use the recipe on the back or Hershey’s Dutch Process cocoa.

7

For a BIG pan of brownies:

17.5 ounces softened butter*
3.5 cups sugar
8 eggs
1 cup plus 5 tablespoons cocoa powder*
1.75 cups flour
1.25 cups chopped nuts, optional

Cream together butter and sugar . Blend in eggs until smooth. Sift together cocoa poweder and flour and blend into mix. Add nuts if used. Spread in a gread half sheet pan, about 16 inches by 12 inches. The pan can be a little smaller if you want thicker brownies. Bake at 350 degrees Farhenheit for twenty minutes, a little longer if you have a smaller pan.

Frost them as desired, if you like frosted brownies. I just do as my mom did and sprinkle a little powdered sugar on them when they’ve cooled a bit. I like these brownies because they’re dense and soft, not cakey and light

This recipe originally called for using melted, unsweetened chocolate. If you prefer that to cocoa brownies, cut out 3.5 ounces of the butter, eliminate the cocoa powder, and add 7 ounces melted, unsweetened chocolate to the butter/sugar mix.

8

I have what you are looking for. I grew up on the cake style brownies and if that’s what you like no gooey brownie is going to do it for you. My mom prefers the cake style and this is what we would make at her request:

1 c sugar
1 c margarine
1/3 c cocoa powder
4 eggs
2 c flour
1/2 t salt
1 t vanilla
1/2 t baking powder.

Melt margarine, remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. Stir in sugar and cocoa. Add eggs one at a time and the vanilla. Stir in flour, salt, and b. powder.

grease and flour 9x13 baking pan. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes.

9

The temp seems wrong. Most recipes I have seen, the brownies are cooked higher: 375 to 425.

10

I think I’ve figured out the problem - I think I used a pan that was too small (so the batter was too thick). I am now trying the recipe that is on my cocoa powder - fingers crossed! (If nothing else, the raw batter sure is good - if I could buy raw brownie batter from the store, I’m not sure I’d eat much of anything else.)

ETA: And if I have to work my way through every recipe here, I’m willing to make that sacrifice. :smiley:

11

Trader Joe’s has a Belgian Brownie mix that will leave you wanting more.

12

I named these “Crisis Brownies” because they were so easy to whip up during episodes of adolescent angst. The recipe is from an old Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. They are cake-y, but in a brownie kind of way if that makes sense. Definitely not gooey, but not light and airy, either. Here goes:

1/2 cup butter
1 scant cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
6-8 Tablespoons cocoa powder (more will make them a bit drier and cake-ier)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup nuts (optional)

Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla; beat in eggs. Blend in chocolate, then flour and nuts. Bake in greased 8-inch square pan at 325 for 30-35 minutes. Cool. Cut into 16 squares.

13

We always use the recipe off the box of Baker’s chocolate: Baker’s One Bowl Brownies.

You do actually mix the batter in a single bowl, it takes about 5 minutes, and the brownies are fabulous.

14

Yup, it was the pan size that caused the problem, I’m pretty sure of it. The second batch has turned out just great.

I think I still want to work my way through all these recipes, though. :slight_smile:

15

Well, I’ll give you one more, then - I make this with my daughter regularly, and they’re great. It makes a relatively small batch, so they disappear pretty fast, but we just make more. :slight_smile:

1 stick butter, cut into pieces
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup sugar
1/2 t vanilla extract
2 eggs (large or extra large)
1/2 cup flour
pinch salt
1/2 cup walnuts (we leave these out - neither of us likes nuts in brownies)

Melt butter and chocolate together over low heat in heavy 2- or 3-quart saucepan, stirring with wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Set aside to cool for 3 minutes. Stir in sugar and vanilla, then eggs (one at a time), stirring until smooth after each addition. Add flour and salt and stir until smooth. Mix in the nuts, if using.

Bake in 8" square pan at 350F for 20-25 min. (I have a 9" square pan, and we bake them for 18 min. Still yummy.)

16

Make sure you check your oven temp. with a reliable oven thermometer from time to time. I had a series of spectacular kitchen failures once because my oven wasn’t calibrated right, and was nowhere near the temperature I set it at. In fact, if I set it for 350…it was baking at 500.