Really Outrageous Brownies

Never has a recipe, IMHO, had a more fitting title...this week's Barefoot Blogger recipe is Ina Garten's "Outrageous Brownies". And friends let me tell you...outrageous they indeed are.

In my busy little corner of the world I am frequently able to convince myself that a boxed brownie mix delivers a "homemade", melt in your mouth chocolaty treat. That is until I make the effort to prepare a "from scratch" version and then I know I'm simply fooling myself...a boxed mix just can't compare to the results that a recipe like this gives you...fudgy, rich and really melt in your mouth chocolaty-ness.

I made only one slight alteration to the recipe and that was to use half semi-sweet chocolate chips and half bittersweet (60% Cacao) chips. The bittersweet chips give an extra richness. The hardest part about this recipe, which the Food Network classified as difficult, is melting the chocolate. Chocolate can be very temperamental...I have tossed many a bowlful of seized chocolate and let me tell you as delicious as correctly melting chocolate smells, burnt chocolate is a horrendous smell! In my opinion it's not worth the risk to melt (often expensive) chocolate in the microwave-make the extra effort and melt it over a double boiler or as I do in a bowl over a pot of simmering water.

Stonewall Kitchen sells the boxed version of this recipe I would love to hear if anyone has ever tried both the boxed version and the homemade version...do they compare? Ina's recipe below says that it makes 20 large brownies, I usually cut them a great deal smaller for about 48 brownies.

FYI the Barefoot Bloggers are a group of bloggers devoted to preparing 2 of Ina Garten's (aka The Barefoot Contessa) recipes each month.

Outrageous Brownies
Copyright (c) 1999 by Ina Garten
Makes 20 Large Brownies “Inspiration for this recipe came from the Chocolate Glob in the SoHo Charcuterie Cookbook published by William Morrow in 1982. In its heyday, the SoHo Charcuterie was the cutting edge of New York restaurants. The giant confection was a blob of chocolate dough filled with chocolate chips and nuts. I though I could make a brownie with almost the same formula. They’ve been flying out the door for fifteen years!”
-Ina Garten

1 pound unsalted butter
1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
6 extra-large eggs
3 tablespoons instant coffee granules
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 12 x 18 x 1-inch baking sheet.

Melt together the butter, 1 pound of the chocolate chips, and the unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl over simmering water. Allow to cool slightly. In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, coffee granules, vanilla, and sugar. Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl, sift together 1 cup of flour, the baking powder, and salt. Add to the cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips in a medium bowl with 1/4 cup flour, then add them to the chocolate batter. Pour onto the baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes, then rap the baking sheet against the oven self to force the air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Bake for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not over bake! Allow to cool thoroughly, refrigerate, and cut into 20 large squares.

Notes: Flouring the chips and walnuts keeps them for sinking to the bottom. It is very important to allow the batter to cool well before adding the chocolate chips, or the chips will melt and ruin the brownies. This recipe can be baked up to a week in advance, wrapped in plastic, and refrigerated.