My Brownie Quest Continues - the Latest Contender uses Browned Butter

I ran across a brownie recipe from Bon Appetit Magazine the other day that called for browned butter. I had no idea what browned butter was and became intrigued by the phrase, it stuck in the back of my mind. Browned butter. Exactly, what does that mean? Today, I decided to try my hand at making browned butter brownies. These turned out to be very rich and extremely delicious. I would have to say they are my favorite so far in my quest for the perfect homemade brownie. They are really easy to make and you only use one saucepan to make the batch, easy clean-up is always a plus for me.

Ingredients

1/2 Cup plus 2 Tbsp butter (1 1/4 sticks cut into 1" pieces)

1 1/4 Cup sugar

3/4 Cup cocoa powder

1 tsp Vanilla extract

2 Tbsp water

2 eggs

1/3 Cup flour plus 1 Tbsp more (I used unbleached, all-purpose)

The recipe in Bon Appetit called for 1 cup chopped pecans, but my family does not like nuts.

Directions

Preheat your oven to 325°. Line an 8 x 8" pan with aluminum foil. I have never done this before but I really like using the foil and will probably now always use it unless I am out. I did also spray it with Pam to make sure there was no sticking.

To make the browned butter, place the cubes into a medium sized sauce pan over medium low heat. Let the cubes melt, keep stirring them occasionally, then the butter will start to foam up. Keep stirring the butter until the foam begins to disappear. Brown flakes should be visible starting to form in the bottom of the melted butter. Continue to heat on low until the foam disappears with only clear bubbles remaining and the butter will become a nice honey color. Remove the butter from heat and now you have browned butter. The aroma in your kitchen will be downright Heavenly.

Mix your sugar into the browned butter first. Once it is all mixed in, the butter sugar mixture appears very much like brown sugar. Then mix in your cocoa powder and vanilla, plus 2 Tbsp of water. Let this mixture cool for about 4-5 minutes.

Blend in your eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one. Add your flour to the mix and blend until the flour just disappears. Do not overmix. Pour the brownie batter into the pan and bake for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the brownies 1" in from the side comes out almost clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for about one hour. Then lift the brownies out of the pan using the aluminum foil to lift them. Let them finish cooling on the rack.

I sprinkled powdered sugar on top of the brownies to dress them up because I thought frosting would just be too much. I think that was definitely the right decision. These brownies are fabulous. My son has eaten three brownies today and he is a super picky eater. I actually paired a brownie with ice cream tonight and chocolate sauce and it is a perfectly decadent dessert. A wonderful treat. I would say it rivals any restaurant's brownie sundae. I hope you enjoy these brownies as much as my family and I did!