I’m not kidding about these. They are the best brownies I’ve ever had. You know I used to travel for a living (flying - I was that female voice you heard over the PA saying “this is the Captain speaking” and talking about the weather at the destination. You probably thought “who was THAT!??”) Anyway, I stayed overnight in many cities all over the country, and I long ago figured out that the way to gauge the quality of any place was by their chicken salad, ice cream and brownies. Since we are discussing brownies here, let me tell you what constitutes crummy brownies. That would be crummy ingredients. The practiced palette can discern such garbage as corn syrup and low quality shortening (as in - not butter.) Yuk. Also a gummy texture, or an overly cakey texture. Likewise - yuk. Who wants to waste calories on junk when you can have a taste treat as divine as these. And no, they don’t have any extra secret ingredients. Make these and everyone will love you like Martha Stewart. Well, no not like Martha Stewart. She strikes me as a little creepy and more than a little scary. Let’s just say - make these and be the most popular cook on the block - or in the house. These are not hard to make, but truly are… The Greatest Brownies…. Like ever!
1 ¼ cup cake flour
½ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon baking powder
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate – chopped up
12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1” pieces
2 ¼ cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
Whisk to combine flour, salt and baking powder in medium bowl, set aside.
Melt chocolate and butter in large heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, or in the microwave. If melting in microwave, start with 45 seconds, then stir chocolate/ butter. Continue to heat in 30 second increments until mixture is completely smooth when whisked.
When mixture is completely smooth, gradually whisk in sugar. Add eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition until thoroughly combined. Whisk in vanilla.
Add flour mixture in three additions, folding in with a rubber spatula until batter is completely smooth.
Turn oven on to 325. By the time you get finished laboriously putting the batter in the mini muffin tins, the oven will be preheated!
Use four 12 place mini muffin tins. Spray with non stick spray (don’t be shy, it is no fun when brownies stick!) Carefully transfer batter to the 48 tiny spots. If you do it just right, you’ll end up with no extra batter, and no empty tins. Good luck!
Bake for 17 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick or skewer. When inserted into the center of the brownies, said toothpick should come out with a few crumbs attached, but no raw batter. Don’t overcook!
Let cool for a few minutes and then remove from tins.
Enjoy!
