Deep, Dark Chocolate Brownies

I decided to make these, from Mel's Kitchen Cafe, tonight.  And I'm so very, very glad I did.  I originally wanted some brownies with a bit more flare, but Sadie saw this picture and absolutely insisted that we try these.  And we don't regret it.  (And they were really easy to make.)

*  I've added 10 minutes to the cooking time on the original recipe post on Mel's blog.  Ours were still quite liquidey in the middle after 35 minutes.  So we did 45 minutes and they were perfect.

Deep, Dark Chocolate Brownies


INGREDIENTS:

2 sticks (8 oz) butter
8 oz good-quality semisweet chocolate
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
5 large eggs
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13×9 inch metal pan with foil and spray foil with cooking spray. Alternatively, you may use parchment. These are pretty sticky at first!

Melt butter and chocolate in a 3-qt heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring, until smooth. Add 1 cup of the sugar to the hot chocolate mixture. Remove from heat and let cool to lukewarm.

Whisk in remaining 1 cup sugar and vanilla. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time until mixture is glossy and smooth. Whisk in salt and cocoa powder, then add flour and stir until it disappears (do not overbeat).

Spread in pan and bake until a pick inserted in center comes out with crumbs, 45 minutes. Cool to room temperature then chill for an hour or more. Lift from pan, place on a cutting board, cut into squares.
Makes 1 13×9 inch pan (yield depends on how big you cut your brownies, but they are rich, so small is fine.

Recipe Source: adapted from Cookie Madness