Classic Chocolate Walnut Brownies

When the chocolate craving hits, you just need to satisfy it. A-Tooch is not a big chocolate person so when she does do chocolate, she does it big.

Don’t judge. I like vanilla better… and caramel, peanut butter or marshmallow. But this past weekend I wanted something chocolatey and did not have the time or energy for a massive layer cake. Behold — the chocolate walnut brownie — a classic favorite and not too difficult to perfect.

I poked around the internet for recipes and came across two extreme variations — a recipe which seems standard with two sticks of butter, and the “lower-cal” attempts with applesauce, skim milk and what-not. I went with the two sticks of butter. In my brownie research I also discovered a few different schools of thought:

• The cakey versus fudgey types. I prefer mine somewhere in the middle, with a mushy center. Texture can mostly be controlled by length of time baked.
• The cocoa powder versus chocolate bar types. I find more variety in the types of gourmet bitter chocolate bars you can buy, so I went this route. Also easier to find than baking cocoa powder in my neighborhood grocery stores.

The recipe that follows is a blend of what seems to be the ‘best of’ many different online recipes. You aren’t reading this wrong, that is FOUR eggs, TWO sticks of butter and TWO cups of sugar. Yup.

Chocolate Walnut Brownies

4-5 oz. unsweetened, bitter chocolate (trade up — it makes a difference)
4 large eggs
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350º. Grease an 8×8 in. baking pan with butter or cooking spray, then lightly flour.

Melt butter and chocolate over a saucepan until smooth, then allow to cool. I used 3/4 of a Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Evening Dream bar and 1/2 of an Intense Dark Espresso Escape bar to spice it up. Good mixture, if I say so myself.

Gradually add all of the ingredients except the walnuts into the cooled chocolate mix. Make sure to add eggs one at a time, integrating fully. Do not overbeat the mixture- stir about 50-60 strokes. Fold in the walnuts.

Pour mixture into pan and bake for about 30-35 minutes for fudgey brownies or 35-40 minutes for more cake-like brownies.

It’s almost insane how decadent these are and how satisfied you’ll feel after a small brownie square. Sometimes there is no substitute for a good ol’ traditional chocolate brownie.