Next time you visit Chicago, stroll through the lobby of The Palmer House Hilton. It’s one of my favorite places in the city, with so much history. A while back I wrote about my great grandmother having spent some time there, so whenever I’m in the hotel I always think of her. And brownies. The Palmer House Brownies are legend.
Since I first posted this, several copycat Palmer House Brownies recipes have surfaced and you can find them with a quick Google search. I originally found the recipe in Bon Appetit and made my own changes to it.
As you can guess from the 9 oz of chocolate and half pound of butter, the brownies are intensely fudgy. My first batch was a little too sweet because I used 9 oz semisweet chocolate instead of bittersweet. I went back and made the brownies with 7 1/2 oz of 60% cacao chocolate and 1 1/2 oz of unsweetened and they were much better. If you don’t have that combo, you could also try 9 oz of a 72 %.
Along with the being dense and fudgy, the brownies have kind of a crust on top and bottom. That might be due to beating the eggs with a mixer rather than gingerly whisking them into the batter, but in any case I liked the crust! So I want to give these another try with a less sweet chocolate…..and walnuts. The almonds were pretty, but the walnuts would be more true to the original.
One final note. When I pulled these out of the oven, they looked horrible. The brownies looked gritty, the edges were raised quite a bit and the middle seemed jiggly. I knew they were cooked, though. I’d baked them the full 45 minutes and they smelled done. After the brownies cooled and chilled, the texture was excellent.
UPDATE: I made these brownies again with better chocolate and called them Old Hotel Brownies. You can check that post and look at the comments with reviews from other readers. The recipe below is is the same one on that page, but I’m keeping both pages since the other page has the comments from reviewers.
As promised, here is the photo. This was taken after the brownies chilled for several hours.
Palmer House Brownies
1 cup (114 grams) cake flour
1 teaspoon (5 ml) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon (1 ml) salt
7 1/2 ounces (210 grams) 60% bittersweet chocolate, chopped**
1 1/2 oz (42 grams) unsweetened chocolate, chopped
8 oz (230 grams) unsalted butter
1 cup plus 6 tablespoons (270 grams) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) vanilla extract
1-2 cups (90-180 grams) whole toasted pecans or walnuts (see note)
2-3 tablespoons apricot preserves (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 inch square metal pan with non-stick foil or line with foil and spray foil with cooking spray.
Stir together cake flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
Melt butter in a saucepan set over medium heat. Add chocolate. Reduce heat to low and stir until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Beat eggs and sugar together for about 40 seconds in a mixing bowl using high speed of an electric mixer. Stir or whisk in the melted chocolate and vanilla. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate batter and gently fold it in. Pour batter into prepared pan. Drop the pan from about 5 inches off the counter to release air bubbles.
Chop the nuts and sprinkle them over the brownies.
Bake brownies for 40-45 minutes or until edges are raised and have begun to pull away from pan.
Microwave apricot preserves for 20 seconds and strain out any chunks (I didn’t strain). Brush as much as you like over nuts. Cool at room temperature for an hour then transfer to refrigerator to chill. Lift from pan and cut into 16 squares.
**Original recipe used 9 oz of bittersweet chocolate and no unsweetened. If you use bittersweet, use 70% or above or the brownies might be too sweet
Note about nuts: I used 1 cup of nuts, but 2 cups of nuts is better for cutting the sweetness of the brownies.
RecipeGirl
I saw this recipe and I’m anxious to try it. Have you not tried it yet?
Louise
Lisa Ernst – The ground up bacon in the brownies added a smokey salted taste, not unlike the salted caramel that’s also popular. Another food fad, but I do want to try Pig Candy, brittle with bacon and peanuts. 😉
Lisa Ernst
Its fun to look at recipes from the past and see how tastes have changed. Regarding the modern trend of putting bacon in desserts, I have to confess that I really don’t get that one. 🙂
pam shank
Oh my gosh that box sounds so wonderful. I love things like that. I need to start a box for my grandchildren. Everyone has so many special things in their life and all should be passed on thru stories and keepsakes. I always think of It’s A Wonderful Life nd how many lives each of us really do touch. I always enjoy your blog so much. The recipes are so great but the stories you add in are so down to earth and we can identify with them. Wish you could mail us all one of those brownies…guess we will have to make them.
Anna
Maybe the chef was Austrian?
Jane
The glazing with apricot preserves sounds suspiciously like a Sachertorte….
bakingblonde
Awesome!
Louise
Theresa B — Bacon, it’s not just for breakfast anymore. 🙂 There are lots of recipes on the web for bacon and chocolate, sugared bacon, and bacon brittle.
Anna — The March issue of Food & Wine has a grilled Salmon Club Sandwich which uses “agave” and a rub. Now that we all have agave, here’s another use. It’s not on their website yet.
Therese B.
So cool Anna!
I am so intrigued with old stories….wow, and from your ggm…how cool is that?
I will have to ask my mom, because I believe she went to the Palmer House/Chicago with my dad at some point.
Very cool…can’t wait for the March issue!
T.
I am intruiged with the bacon/bourbon/pecan brownies as well. There is such an interest with bacon and chocolate lately…has anyone else noticed that trend?
Anna
I think the one in the link is just not really geared for modern home cooks. BA’s measurements are almost the same as the original with slight changes.
–They halved the recipe and baked it in an 8 inch square pan
–They called for unsalted butter and added salt to the recipe.
–They called for bittersweet chocolate
–They reduced the baking powder.
They also changed the heat setting to 350 degrees F. for 45 minutes.
Oh, and they omitted the gelatin from the topping.
Louise
Katrina’s right. That recipe looks screwed up. In addition to all that sugar and a pound of butter, it’s using all semi-sweet chocolate and a pound of walnuts. Is the Bon Appetit one the same?
Louise
Dawn – I have too many interests to maintain a blog myself, but here is the origin of my brownies. http://www.slashfood.com/2008/12/22/bacon-bourbon-brownies/ I made a trial run of 2/5 batch and baked them in a 9×5 pan for 20 min. For a full batch, my adjustments would be 10 oz. bacon, 1 cup pecans, 2 T Bourbon and a pinch of smoked paprika into the batter.
Katrina
Interesting recipe with what seems like a lot of butter and sugar for a 9×12 pan. Can’t wait for you to try them first, Anna.
dawn
I would love to see Louise’s brownies! Those sound good! What is your food blog?
Anna
Louise, it’s in the March issue. I just added that so people will know. I’m still waiting for it to appear on Epicurious.
I am going to email you re: soldier packages. You can definitely send something!
VeggieGirl
Sounds good!!
Louise
I just looked in the Feb 2009 issue and don’t see the brownie request so I guess I must wait for the March issue. Are you talking about the 1893 or 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago. I think you like movies and you’d probably enjoy seeing “Expo: Magic of the White City” a documentary about the 1893 fair. Electricity, street lights, and the Otis elevator were new things. Oh, and Pabst Blue Ribbon. And there was a giant ferris wheel, built by George Ferris. Fuel for the imagination — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_Columbian_Exposition
Yesterday I made a mini-batch of Bacon Bourbon Brownies and upped the quantities of bourbon, bacon, and pecans. I think next time I’ll add a touch of chipotle.
Anna
Sue, it’s definitely the same one. I am used to thinking about it as Hilton because Hilton has owned it for a while, but it used to be Palmer House.
Sue
Hi Anna!
I’ve been pretty quiet lately, but I’ve been reading along. I have to respond to this though. About eighteen years ago or so my husband and I stayed at a hotel in downtown Chicago called the Palmer House Hotel. It was a lovely place. I wonder if it used to be the Palmer House Hilton?
Your box of family history sounds like a treasure. My Grandma made a list similar to your Grandma’s, but her intent was to make sure that certain family members got certain things after she passed.
Your brownies sound great! Can’t wait to read about them.
Sue