How to make the perfect brownies
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I've been experimenting with a lot of brownie recipes recently, and I mentioned that endeavor in a recent Axios New Orleans newsletter outro.
The intrigue: One of our readers saw it, and lovingly shared her own, homemade recipe with us.
Worth noting: I don't have a particularly insightful reason for all of my experimentation.
- I just like brownies.
Zoom in: When reader Melissa H. sent me the recipe, she added the note "Gotcha covered girlfriend."
- Naturally, I whipped up a batch ASAP.
The bottom line: Melissa's brownie recipe is outstanding. It's a little bit fudgy, a little bit cakey and definitely worth repeating.
Dig in: Try it for yourself. The recipe is below.
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Melissa's brownie recipe
- 1 stick butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup baking cocoa
- 3/8 cup flour
- 1/4 tsp. baking powder
- Dash of salt
- 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans
Steps:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
2. Melt the butter, then whisk in sugar, vanilla and eggs, beating well. Sift together dry ingredients and add them at once, stirring until incorporated, plus 50 strokes. Fold in nuts.
3. If you want to make them special, now's when you can add in all kinds of mix-ins. Some suggestions: orange zest, coconut, heath bits, chocolate chips. If you go with coconut, save some for the top too. It toasts while the brownies bake.
4. Pour into pan and bake for about 30 minutes. To test, know that you don't want the brownies cooked until a toothpick comes out clean. It shouldn't jiggle if you shake the pan, and the edges may pull away from the pan a little.
5. Cool completely in pan. Turn out on a cutting board, cut into squares using a very sharp, hot knife.
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