We have lots of big changes going on in our family. Mostly because our younger daughter and her husband are expecting their first baby, and he is starting a new job and they are moving from Georgia to Pennsylvania.
Besides general moral support, we get to be involved to the extent that we are keeping Sammy the super-jowly dog while they get moved, as well as having them stay with us off and on through the process.
If there is a better time to make Dark Chocolate Fudge Brownies than when there is a pregnant lady staying at your house, I don’t know when it would be. There is nothing more welcome when you are growing a whole other person in your belly than something rich and chocolatey and fudgey. [and you don’t have to be pregnant for that to be true, by the way]
These brownies do a very good job of satisfying those requirements. I used Dutch-process cocoa which, unlike natural cocoa has been treated to make it less acidic – this same process makes it darker as well. The most common grocery store brand is Hershey’s Extra Dark, but there are some premium brands that cost a little more and are of slightly better quality. I used the grocery store stuff for this batch and it worked very nicely.
There are different ways to make brownies, and each one yields a different result. For fudgey brownies, you start with melted butter, use more eggs, and less flour. To make sure you get every bit of chocolate flavor from the cocoa, mix it with the melted butter and let sit 10 minutes to fully blend with the fats – kind of getting hydrated in a way, before adding the sugar. 
- 8 ounces butter
- ¾ cup Dutch process cocoa powder
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 room temperature eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup lightly toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
- Preheat the oven to 350º. Generously butter a 9 x 13 inch baking dish or pan. Or use two 8 x 8 inch pans, or two 9 inch round cake pans.
- In a large bowl, melt the butter - either on low power in the nicrowave, or over a pot of simmering water.
- Mix in the cocoa powder until fully incorporated and allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes.
- Then, one a time, mix in the sugar, each of the eggs and the vanilla.
- In a smaller bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and fold together, just until combined.
- Spread the batter evenly in the prepared dish.
- Bake for about 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs, but no batter at all.
Pingback: Best Ever Oatmeal Cookies | The Creekside Cook