Here’s my latest, greatest, fudge brownie recipe. It calls for beating the eggs thoroughly so you get brownies that are dense yet seemingly light at the same time and have a shiny top.
I’ve named these “Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Brownies” in honor of the fact the recipe makes good use of a pound plus bar of Trader Joe’s 72% Belgium Dark chocolate, but you can use any type of 72% chocolate and call them whatever. I wouldn’t use a chocolate less than 72% because the brownies might be too sweet.
Also, these brownies were baked in a glass pan. I usually use metal, but every so often I like a crusty brownie and go with glass.
Update: I just tested this recipe with Pillsbury Gluten-Free All Purpose Blend. It worked perfectly! Just remember, this recipe is best with chocolate that is at least 72% cacao. Sweeter chocolate will give you sweeter brownies.
- 1/2 cup (114 grams) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
- 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil or vegetable oil
- 4 ounces 72% dark chocolate, chopped (Trader Joe's)
- 1 1/2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar (98 grams)
- 2 jumbo eggs or 2 ½ large eggs (125 grams total)**
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (150 grams)
- 1/2 tablespoon vanilla
- 3/8 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (95 grams)
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- Handful dark chocolate chips
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 inch square glass pan and line bottom with a strip of parchment paper that covers the bottom and comes up over two opposite sides. Remaining two sides don’t need to be covered, just greased.
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium low heat. Add coconut oil and chopped chocolate and reduce heat to low. Stir until chocolate is melted and smooth, adding in the cocoa powder as you stir. When smooth, add the dark brown sugar and stir until it dissolves slightly, then remove from heat.
- In a mixing bowl, using a hand-held electric mixer, beat the eggs for about 1 minute or until frothy. Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue beating for 5 minutes or until thick and frothy. Beat in the vanilla and the salt.
- Fold the melted chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, then fold in the flour.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, sprinkle walnuts over the top, and bake in the center of the oven until set and starting to crack, about 30- 35 minutes.
- Pull from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over hot brownies so that they melt just enough to adhere.
- Let cool completely at room temperature (or plunge into an ice bath if you prefer), then chill thoroughly. To remove from pan, loosen sides without parchment gently with a knife, then pull up on parchment and take brownies out of the pan. Cut into squares.
Hi Carol,
Glad you liked them! Thanks for the comment.
Anna-I tried these last night when my sister and her family were passing through town. I doubled the recipe and everyone loved them! I did have good vanilla ice cream and a honey, chocolate sauce to go with it but most everyone just chose the brownie by itself.
Their chocolate is pretty good and definitely a bargain. I tend to jump around and try different chocolate at all price levels, and TJ’s is a solid pick for the money. Plus I like going to that store ;). I need to make Oreo ice cream. Thanks for the idea.
I hope that Trader Joe’s feels honored that you named this recipe after them, Anna 🙂 My personal favorite brownie recipe is the KAF Whole Grain Baking one, and my husband’s is Cook’s Illustrated’s Chewy Brownies. That taste test gives me a tummy ache just thinking about it, so I’ll probably stick to those two forever 🙂 Er, no, I think that the tummy ache is from the taste test I did for Oreo Ice Creams (trying different vanilla bases) – yep, that’s it! I do want to check out Trader Joe’s chocolate – I’ve heard that it’s really good, but haven’t tried it yet! I love that they carry Valrhona bars afford-ably, although I think that I WANT to like them more than I do – they’re a little too bitter for me – hehe.
Happy Baking!