Fudgy Chocolate Chip Brownies

Always in the back of my mind somewhere, I'm on the quest to find the best brownie recipe ever. (Chocolate chip cookies, too.) So, I'm willing to give just about every recipe a try to see if one hits perfection! I have to say, this one does come close. In the end, they came out a little bit too sweet for me, but I think that's easy enough to fix by reducing the sugar a bit and trying out different kinds of cocoa powder and chocolate. 

What ends up being the most important thing for brownies, as I've learned over the years, is baking time! Because I prefer fudgy brownies, I've developed a habit of watching brownie batter like a hawk as it bakes and taking it out as soon as the majority of the jiggle has set. Clearly, this is a very un-scientific and imprecise metric, but... what can I say - different ovens and different pans always work differently, so you can't count on a certain number of minutes elapsed being the ultimate signal! My advice is to bake lots and lots of brownies until you get a feel for your preferred texture :)

I was in a hurry and didn't have quite enough time to let these properly cool, hence the messy and melty (but very appetizing) squares pictured! If you have the time, though, definitely let these sit for a while after baking so that you can cut them more easily. Or, alternatively, just go all in with a pint of ice cream and a spoon... but you didn't hear it from me!

Fudgy Chocolate Chip Brownies

from Gemma's Bigger Bolder Baking

Ingredients

1 cup butter, melted and cooled

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 cup plus 2 tbsp brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 tbsp white sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature

4 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp salt (optional: flaky sea salt for sprinkling on top)

1 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 7x11 inch baking tray with parchment paper. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine the melted butter, oil and both sugars.

3. Add the eggs, vanilla, and salt, and then whisk for about one minute until evenly combined and light in color.

4. Over the same bowl, sift in the flour and cocoa powder. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until JUST combined. Fold in half of the chocolate chips.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, then smooth the top. Generously top with the remaining chocolate chips.

6. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the centre of the brownies no longer jiggles and is JUST set to the touch.

7. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with sea salt if using. Allow to cool to room temperature before removing from the baking tray and slicing into 16 brownies.

I'm definitely going to hang on to this recipe as one that's near the top of my list for brownie perfection, but I'm definitely still open to other options! We'll see if I can find one to beat this... Until next time!