Julia Child's Best-Ever Brownies

These brownies are so good and so rich that I only needed to eat one* to feel satisfied. That's fantastic in my books. They have this chewy crust on the top and bottom, while the centre stays perfectly moist and gooey.

I think it's best to let the brownies cool completely before cutting into them. Otherwise they look underdone. Kind of like a chocolate molten lava cake. But who can wait? These were great hot from the oven and cold the next day. Very effective at curing any chocolate craving. Here's how they look before they have cooled:This recipe's ingredient list is simple too, which I always appreciate. The suggested preparation is not. It is Julia Child's recipe after all. Hand whisk until it doubles in volume--no way. I didn't follow the recipe's method at all and found they turned out just as many food bloggers online described. I also decreased the sugar by a half cup. I posted my easier method and recipe here instead.

(Maybe one day in the future, when I have more time and patience, I will try Julia's method and see how and if it makes a difference.)

* I originally thought: "I only needed to eat one to feel satisfied." Who am I kidding? These were so good, my family devoured them all by the end of the next day. Amazingly evil brownies. If you have them in the house, they will haunt you.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
8 ounces butter, (1 stick)
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate (4 squares Baker's chocolate)
2 ounces chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs


Directions:

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. In electric mixer bowl, add flour, salt, 1/2 cup of sugar, eggs and vanilla. Beat on medium-high speed until the batter doubles in volume.
3. Meanwhile, melt the butter and chocolate together in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently to make sure the chocolate doesn’t burn.
4. Add 1 cup of sugar to the butter and chocolate mixture and stir for half a minute, then remove the pan from the heat.
5. Little by little, pour chocolate mixture into the batter and fold in gently with a spatula so the chocolate doesn't cook the eggs. Keep folding until the batter is evenly brown.
6. Poor the batter into a buttered 8x8 baking dish.
7. Bake the brownies for 25-28 minutes. The top and sides will be set. The insides will appear slightly undercooked and gooey.
8. Wait until they cool to cut them into perfect squares.

Inspiration: From This Week For Dinner food blog. You can see the original recipe and method here.