I got this recipie from the February addition of Bon Appetit. I’m not very good at baking, but these brownies caught my attention for 3 reasons.

1. It looked really easy
2. It was C’s birthday – and as I just mentioned I am not very good at baking – so the idea of baking a cake was pretty scary
3. The magazine proclaimed that they were the best brownies they have ever had

Although good, I have to admit that I was slightly disappointed with them. They were not nearly as ‘brownie-ish’ enough for me (for lack of better words). After the brownies had cooled, they were still very fudgy in the center (which I love) but were incredibly hard and chewy on the outside (which I didn’t love) – now this can be due to the altitude (you can blame EVERYTHING on the altitude in Mexico!) However,  the browned butter does give the brownies a rich nutty flavour which was really interesting – and at the end of the day they ARE brownies made from chocolate, sugar and butter….of course I ‘liked’ them – I just didn’t LOVE them…which is what I was expecting to.

However – for those of you who want to give it a try, here is the recipe:

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 10 tblsp (150g)  unsalted butter
• 1¼ cups sugar
• ¾ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tblsp unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 cup walnuts

Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 325°F (160°C)

Line 8x8x2-inch metal baking pan with foil, pressing foil firmly against pan sides and leaving 2-ince overhang. Coat foil with nonstick spray.

Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking until butter stops foaming and browned bits form at bottom of pan, stirring often, about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat; immediately add sugar, cocoa, 2 tsp water, vanilla and generous pinch of salt. Stir to blend. Let cool 5 minutes

Add eggs to hot mixture 1 at a time, beating vigorously to blend after each addition. When mixture looks thick and shiny, add flour and stir until blended. Stir in nuts. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake brownies until tooth pick inserted into center comes out almost clean – about 25 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan and cut into desired pieces and let cool.

PS. A good tip that I did pick up from this recipe is using the foil in the baking dish – not only does it make it incredibly easy to handle your brownies but also saves time on the washing up – well definitely be using this tip in the future!