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Cape Town Brownies
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Cape Town Brownies

Based on a recipe from an old church cookbook, these brownies are light and chewy, yet rich and fudge-y at the same time.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 28 minutes
Total Time 48 minutes
Servings 16
Author Cookie Madness

Ingredients

  • 8 tablespoons 114 grams unsalted butter, cut into chunks
  • 2 ounces/56 grams unsweetened chocolate chopped (I used Ghirardelli 100%)
  • ½ cup 84 grams bittersweet chocolate chips (again, Ghirardelli)
  • 2 large eggs 95 grams
  • 1 cup granulated sugar 200 grams
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup sifted unbleached all-purpose flour or just weigh 60 grams
  • ½ cup miniature marshmallows
  • ½ cup toasted pecans or walnuts optional
  • ½ cup more chocolate chips or chocolate pieces

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 inch square metal pan with nonstick foil.
  • Melt the butter in a large saucepan set over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, add chocolate and chocolate chips to partially melted butter; stir until smooth and completely melted. If you prefer, you can melt the butter and both chocolates together in the microwave. Let cool.
  • Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or just using a handheld mixer), begin beating the eggs on medium-low. Gradually add the sugar, then increase mixer speed and continue beating on high until mixture is thick and pale.
  • Add the melted and cooled chocolate mixture, vanilla and salt. Stir until blended, then add flour and stir with a heavy duty scraper until smooth. Lastly, add the marshmallows and nuts. Make sure your batter is not so warm that it will melt the chips, then stir in the remaining ½ cup of chocolate chips.
  • Transfer mixture (it will be very thick) to the pan and spread evenly. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.
  • Remove from the oven and let cool completely or if desired, cool quickly in a water bath. To do this, put the 9 inch square pan in a larger pan and fill the larger pan with ice water so that it comes up about ⅔ of the way (or at least halfway) up the sides of the smaller pan.
  • Allow the brownies to cool completely, then lift from the pan and cut into squares.

Notes

For the unsweetened chocolate I used Ghirardelli 100%. For the ½ cup chips that get melted into the batter I used Ghirardelli Bittersweet (60%), and don't recommend going with anything sweeter such as 43% or semisweet. For the additional chips and chunks I chopped up a 60% bar and used more bittersweet chips in one of the batches, then used Guittard chips in another. Both were good. The brownies with walnuts and pecans were scragglier textured, while the brownies without nuts were slightly fudgier.