Andronico's Adult Brownies

recipe courtesy Serious Eats

One of my favorite places to shop is Andronico’s, a local chain of upscale-ish grocery stores. They’ve got all kinds of great stuff there, but one of the things I absolutely love is the Adult Brownie, made in their bakery. The name is kind of ridiculous, but the flavors are so complex and rich that it really is something that adults appreciate far more than kids do. They’re not overly sweet, but they are incredibly chocolaty and they have a good amount of salt to contrast the subtle sweetness. And the texture is less cakey and more like you’re eating frosting that’s been set out for a couple of days. In the best possible way. Anyway, my point is: these brownies are amazing and you should definitely make them. This recipe is supposed to make something like 32 brownies, but it only gets baked in an 8 x 8 pan. If somehow you get fewer than 32, I won’t judge.

• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
• 8 ounces milk chocolate
• 8 ounces dark chocolate
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons vanilla
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon instant coffee or espresso powder
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• melted butter and cocoa powder for dusting an 8 x 8 inch pan

First, melt the chocolate. I don’t have a double boiler (who does?), so I created one by placing a glass bowl over a saucepan filled about halfway with water and heated over medium-low heat. Make sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. The goal is to provide gentle heat, so do not allow the water to come to a boil. Roughly chop the milk and dark chocolates and place them in the bowl with the butter. Stir this mixture occasionally until it is almost completely melted together. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and continue stirring until all of the lumps of chocolate are melted. Set aside and let this mixture cool.

In the meantime, prepare your pan: I like to cut two sheets of parchment paper to fit inside, with just a bit hanging over the edges of the pan. Brush melted butter all over the inside of the pan, lay one of the sheets of parchment inside, brush more butter on top of it, then rotate the pan 90 degrees and lay the other sheet on top. Brush another layer of butter on top of this sheet, then dump in a tablespoon or so of cocoa powder. Pick up the pan and shake it around so that the cocoa coats the entire bottom of the pan. It’s best to do this over your sink so that you don’t get cocoa powder all over your kitchen, and then you can just dump the excess cocoa right into the sink. Set the pan aside.

Place the flour, salt, and coffee into a bowl and use a whisk to mix until the coffee powder is evenly distributed.

By now the chocolate mixture should have cooled significantly. Using a rubber spatula, beat the sugar and vanilla into the chocolate. Then beat in the eggs, one at a time.

Next add the flour/salt/coffee mixture to the chocolate. Beat for a few minutes, until the mixture is smooth and shiny. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Pour the brownie mixture into your pan and tap the pan on your counter a few times to smooth out the batter. Bake for 30 minutes, remove the pan and tap it on the counter again to really condense the batter, and return to the oven for another 30 minutes. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the brownies near the middle of the pan and remove it. If it is coated with liquidy chocolate, the brownies are not ready yet. Continue baking and checking in 15 minute intervals until only a few solid crumbs cling to the toothpick after removal. Remove the pan from the oven and cool completely (preferably overnight) before cutting. If you can keep your hands off these, they get even better the second and third day.

Enjoy with some ice cold milk...

...or another brownie.