All-Purpose Brownies

 

Ah brownies!  I know, I’ve gone and espoused the glories of Chewy Brownies which are my favorite type but my sweetheart Mike is an equal opportunity brownie lover, hence today, All-Purpose Brownies.

I know, it's Cookie Season, and I meant to deliver you a cookie recipe.  Sorry.  But here, check out these cookies!

Back when I shared that Chewy Brownies recipe, I revealed that my previous go-to was the Ghirardelli version for years.

Nope, they are not chewy but they’re a fascinating combination of fudgy, cakey, and chewy all in one bar which I know hardly seems plausible.

Maybe that’s why Mike loved them so.  They covered every brownie base.  All-purpose!

And while I eventually realized chewy is the schniz for me, one can never really have enough brownie recipes, amiright?!  Chocolate.  Yum.

Something went awry though years ago and it’s still a mystery to me, but it was like the recipe stopped working.  I was and am confounded.

So I gave it up and we, ugh poor Mike, went brownie-less for far too long. 

Mike suffered in silence, blue, sans brownies, brokenhearted, downtrodden.

No not really, I bake all the freaking time.  Please. 

Filing about, I stumbled across that ol’ reliable standby brownie recipe and thought huh, I ought to give this a re-whirl.

The main reason I wanted to re-test was because I, these years later, have a metal baking pan.*  I had speculated the glass* one I used was one issue.

TJ Maxx/Marshalls/Homegoods has some fantastic deals on pans, fyi, where this came from.  Be judicious though, not every pan there is worth purchasing.

No idea why glass wasn’t an issue and then became one but even bummer brownies are salvageable -- just toss them in or smother them with ice cream.  Voila!

But turns out it was indeed the glass pan.

So big baking lesson here my friends, the pan you bake on, with, or in can have a very real affect on your results.  Did I pick the right affect/effect?

Why?  A glass pan is slower to heat and disperses heat differently, unevenly and unreliably.  A metal pan heats quickly and disperses heat evenly and consistently.

Think of it this way:  glass insulates, metal conducts.

My advice to you, henceforth, is that if you normally bake in glass and have spotty or inconsistent results or your recipes just refuse to turn out well or properly and you always wonder why, spring for a metal version of that pan. 

I realize having oodles of pans seems less than ideal but having the right pan is priceless.  It saves you time (accurate baking times), saves you money (less wasted ingredients), saves frustrations (less effort), and promises pride (more reliable, better, tastier, pro baking results).

Besides, if you're gonna hang out with me here, we're gonna be baking lots.  There's your excuse, you're welcome.

So while you can make this brownie recipe in glass as I had for years until it just refused to work anymore, you’re going to get far superior results in metal.

That much more superior, I was shocked.  It was like an entirely new recipe, a revelation, and now back in our rotation of dessert bar goodies.

Even with years of baking experience under my belt, like life, there is always something to be learned and learning is good.

Plus Mike is a happy camper and I like that.

Let's get started!

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a big bowl, yum, then let it cool back down to room temp.  Hot tip:  melt until things are nearly melted and stir vigorously to get them to melt, that way things aren't super hot and will cool faster.

Once that’s cooled, toss in the brown sugar and vanilla, stir all around.

Next those eggs, toss in and blend.

Place a fine mesh sieve* over the bowl, add the flour, baking powder, and salt then sift that atop.

Just set the sieve on the bowl and dump your dry ingredients right into it.

Lift the sieve and tap it until the dry ingredients have ended up in the bowl.

With a silicone or non-stick spatula,* fold the sifted stuff into the chocolaty stuff until just barely mixed.

Tada!  All-Purpose Brownies batter!

Here you can add chocolate chips or nuts, or whatever you like to your brownies, gently stir 'em in.  I sprinkle a heaping handful of walnuts over top the spread-out batter once it's in the pan.

So then yeah, spread the batter in your metal pan (again, you can use glass but adjust your baking time longer or try lowering the oven twenty five degrees)...

Batter in the pan with my walnuts sprinkled.

...bake...

Baked!

...cool, pour cold milk, cut brownies, and enjoy!

Monstrously delicious All-Purpose Brownies!  Bake 'em today!

*The metal baking pans, glass baking pans, fine mesh sieves, and spatulas are Amazon affiliate links.  Happy baking, thanks!  Please see the "info" tab for more, well, info.