KA’s “Best Fudge Brownies Ever”
Posted by Anna on 14 Nov 2006 at 01:20 pm | Tagged as: Anna's Top 10, Bake Sale, Brownies
Fuzz is home sick with a cold, so we’re spending our day doing crafts. I re-introduced Fuzz to salt dough today. Here’s the recipe we used.
4 cups flour
1 cup salt
½ to 1 cup warm water (I forgot how much)
Glycerin - totally optional, but it makes the dough a little more pliant. You could totally leave this out, but I had some leftover from fondant making and wanted to use it.
We cut the dough into shapes, poked holes, then baked the ornaments at 200 for about 2 hours. Fuzz is painting them right now. This is a Texas Longhorn.
Now let’s get to the brownies.
While I was measuring out the flour, I noticed a recipe on the back of the King Arthur Flour bag - The Best Fudge Brownies Ever. When King Arthur speaks in hyperbole, I listen. I handed off the finished salt dough and pulled out all the other ingredients.
Below is the recipe from KA. I like how they insert bits about why something is done. For instance, melting the sugar with the butter is what gives you the lovely shiny top. They weren’t kidding.
I used Hershey’s Dark cocoa powder, but you could use any Dutch cocoa. I am not quite sure I like these as much as Nancy Baggett’s fudge brownies supreme, but they are high on the list of excellent brownies and they do have a great texture. I think what I miss is the taste of brown sugar.
The Best Fudge Brownies Ever
1 cup (8 ounces) butter,
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups Dutch process cocoa (I used Hershey’s Dark)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cup King Arthur unbleached all purpose
2 cups chocolate chips, semi-sweet (or Hershey’s Dark)
Note: Increase salt to 1 teaspoon if you are using unsalted butter.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9×13 inch pan. (I lined mine with parchment).
In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat (or microwave for 1 minute) and heat until mixture is very hot but not bubbling; it’ll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating the butter and sugar a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies. Transfer the mixture to a bowl (if you melted the butter and sugar in the mixing bowl, you don’t have to transfer anything).
Stir in the cocoa, salt, baking powder and vanilla. Add the eggs, beating till smooth; then add the flour and chips, stirring until combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.
(Anna’s Note - Rap pan on counter to bring air bubbles to top. Don’t know if this really matters with the baking powder and all, but I did it anyway!)
Bake the brownies for 28 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out dry. Remove them from the oven and after 5 minutes, loosen the edges with a table knife. This helps prevent sinking as they cool. Cool completely (and chill for better cutting) then cut and serve.
Makes 2 dozen brownies
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on 14 Nov 2006 at 2:02 pm 1.Janice said …
About your note after the ingredients…. do you mean unsalted butter? Love your blog!
on 14 Nov 2006 at 2:07 pm 2.Anna said …
Thanks Janice,
That was a typo. It is now corrected.
on 14 Nov 2006 at 3:26 pm 3.tg said …
wow what timing; i’ve had a major yen for brownies. for some reason, with brownies, i always think “mix” (specifically, duncan hines). i think that was the first thing i ever baked. anyway these look fab. as usual.
on 14 Nov 2006 at 4:59 pm 4.carole said …
WOW!!! Thanks, Anna.
on 14 Nov 2006 at 5:27 pm 5.Janet said …
Well, ya know, that Texas Longhorn your daughter made got my attention!! lol She did a great job! Now about those brownies, I am making these tomorrow to put in the mail to the grandkids! Thanks!!
on 14 Nov 2006 at 5:42 pm 6.Anna said …
Janet,
If you put them in the mail, you may want to send them un-cut. They are pretty fudgy. I think if you send them uncut, or maybe cut into two big squares, they will stay fresher.
on 14 Nov 2006 at 5:51 pm 7.Anonymous said …
If I could just reach into my computer screen — that picture of the brownies looked sooooo good.
on 14 Nov 2006 at 6:37 pm 8.Terri said …
These are the usual brownies that I make - I will have to try the supreme brownies that you mentioned.
on 14 Nov 2006 at 7:49 pm 9.Claire N said …
Sorry Fuzz feels coldish today - I think this is a nationwide thing!
The brownies look great…nice and fudgy the way I like them!
on 14 Nov 2006 at 9:05 pm 10.Anna said …
tg, what cocoa would you use? The Hershey Dark worked out well, but these were intensely dark chocolate brownies. I liked them, but I need to get a review from more objective parties. I’m freezing them and will be serving them in the teacher’s lounge on Thursday. I won’t make a big deal of them, but rather just leave them there with all the other Teacher Appreciation Week desserts.
Anonymous, thanks for your compliment.
Terri, I’d love to hear your opinion on how these stack up to the supremes. These are really kind of different what with the super dark chocolate. Maybe it’s apples to oranges…
Claire, Fuzz is feeling better. She’s been feeling good, but her coughing was so bad it would have disrupted the class. She’ll be fine tomorrow.
on 14 Nov 2006 at 9:48 pm 11.Heathen said …
MMMMMMMMMMmm can’t wait to try out those brownies.
I thought the longhorn was a set of ovaries at first. Loved the colour of them though!
on 15 Nov 2006 at 10:48 am 12.Therese said …
Wow, salt dough! Sure sends me back to grade school when we had to make those darn world maps! tee hee! Looks like you had fun! Your such a great mom!!
The brownies look supremo darlin’! You know, I think I have put on 10 lbs. since I started using your blog!! I DON’T MIND!
Worth it! I like be the first taste tester, a tough job but somehow I do it!! tee hee!!
KEEP EM COMING!
on 15 Nov 2006 at 10:55 am 13.Jackie said …
The brownies look great. My family thanks you for all the baking I’ve been doing recently.
When I saw this recipe for “Roses” I thought this might be something you would like to make. http://www.bloggingmakesyoufat.blogspot.com/ It is on November 14, 2006. They are so pretty and might be cute for Valentine’s Day or a tea party or something.
on 15 Nov 2006 at 11:14 am 14.carole said …
LOL, Heathen
on 15 Nov 2006 at 4:15 pm 15.Anna said …
Jackie, thanks for the link. I like that blog.
on 15 Dec 2006 at 1:39 pm 16.Ari Moore said …
Awesome recipe! In case anyone else finds this recipe and is curious, it works really well when made vegan, too. I replaced the eggs with Ener-G egg replacer and the butter with margarine and they were a huge hit at my girlfriend’s office party. Nice.
on 15 Dec 2006 at 2:00 pm 17.Anna said …
Hi Ari,
Thanks for the vegan update. I’m going to give it a try. Instead of margarine, I’ll probably test with Earth Balance Buttery Sticks.
on 14 Jan 2008 at 5:10 pm 18.Sue said …
Late last night I decided to make brownies so my son would have a dessert for his lunch today. I noticed this recipe on the back of the KA Flour, had all of the ingredients, so decided to give them a try. They’re very good brownies but I can’t help but think that I either overbaked them or put in too much flour. I tend to think the latter. Still… they really are excellent.
Knowing that you have referred to KA products before I decided to search your blog to see if you had made these. I had to LOL when I saw that you have 34 brownie entries. Go Anna!!
I will definitely make these again, but I think I’ll use my husband’s postal scale and weigh the flour next time.
It’s very dry here right now due to severe cold, and the furnace running non stop so that might be affecting how the flour measures.
My husband and son love them, for whatever that’s worth.
on 14 Jan 2008 at 7:48 pm 19.Sue said …
Oh Wow! And, now I see they’re in your Top 10! How did I miss these!?
I think I was so in love with some of your other Top Ten choices that I skipped these.
on 30 Mar 2008 at 3:45 pm 20.Toni said …
I saw this recipe on the back of the flour bag, and taped it to my refrigerator. These brownies are very good. King Arthur will never lead you astray.
on 01 Apr 2008 at 6:17 am 21.Corona said …
This is a fantastic recipe!!! I only have one problem, which I hope someone will help me out with.
It has to do with the ovening part, i follow the instructions as per the recipe, the temperature and the timing to the dot, but my brownies or other cakes for that matter, always come out too cooked around the edges and undone in the middle.
Can someone tell me if it’s possilbe my oven temperature does not regulate the heat correctly and I should lower or rise the temperature?
Thank you kindly,
Albert
on 01 Apr 2008 at 6:46 am 22.Anna said …
Hello Albert,
I think your suspicion is correct and that your oven does not regulate the heat correctly. If the edges are cooking but the insides are under-done, it means the oven is probably too hot.
One thing that might help solve the problem is to the lower the temperature by 25 degrees and cook for a bit longer or until the brownies test done. You might also want to buy an inexpensive oven thermometer.
If that doesn’t work, it might try using a different pan. Glass pans absorb more heat, so if you are baking in a glass pan, you’ll also need to lower the temperature.
Good luck!
on 07 Apr 2008 at 7:05 pm 23.PWtrjnbkr said …
These are soooooo yummy! I am on a diet but have had a craving for a few weeks and had to finally give in. I used Ghirardelli Dutch Processed Cocoa and I used a cup of milk chocolate chips just for something different. These are fantastic! I had the same problem as Albert so just kept a close eye on them while extending my baking time. My brownies are lighter (in color) and thicker than those in the photo. I was worried about the middle but for the first try I am very pleased! I am going to try them out on some friends tonight. I am a Trojan but the Longhorns are . . . well done, to say the least
(kidding)! Thank you for such a great site!
on 07 Apr 2008 at 7:09 pm 24.Anna said …
Thanks for the comment! I am so happy you liked these too.
BTW. Albert and I emailed and it turns out he was using a glass pan.
When using a glass pan, always reduce heat by 25 degrees F.
on 17 Jun 2008 at 1:15 pm 25.WendyN said …
Great recipe! I always make brownies for the last day of school for the kids… this will be made tonight and gone by morning!
on 24 Aug 2008 at 7:26 pm 26.Caitlin said …
Hey Anna……First off, I just wanted to say thanks for all the great recipes you post…..I’m a 16-year-old baker whose reputation has been flourishing thanks to the 6 or 7 Cookie Madness recipes I’ve made.
These brownies look amazing……Unfortunately, my family are brownie purists and don’t like choc. chips in their brownies……Will I be able to do these without the chips, or would that mess up the chemistry somehow?
on 24 Aug 2008 at 8:35 pm 27.Anna said …
Hi Caitlin!
Thanks for trying some of the recipes from here :).
Feel free to take out the chocolate chips. The brownies are very chocolaty without them. That’s cool that you come from a family of brownie purists. They must really know what they like.