Baking the Original Brownie - The History of Brownies

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup (115 g) salted butter, softened
• 1 cup (200 g) sugar
• 2 oz (57 g) Baker’s unsweetened chocolate
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup (60 g) pastry flour or all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (60 g) chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter the bottom and sides of an 8x8 inch (20x20 cm) square pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
2. Beat the butter until it’s nice and smooth. Add the sugar and beat until it’s fluffy.
3. Melt the chocolate by heating an inch or two (3 to 6 cm) of water in a small saucepan to a simmer. Put the chocolate in a heat-safe bowl and place it over the simmering water, making sure that the bottom of the bowl doesn’t come into contact with the water. You just want the steam to gently melt the chocolate. Stir it a few times to help it melt, and it should be ready in a couple of minutes.
4. Add the melted chocolate to the butter and sugar mixture and stir it to combine. Be sure to stir it well enough so that no streaks of chocolate remain and the whole mixture has cooled a bit. If the mixture is too hot, it can scramble the eggs in the next step.
5. Lightly beat the eggs just to break them up and mix them together, then stir them into the brownie batter.
6. After the eggs have been fully incorporated, add half of the flour and gently mix it in, then mix in the other half.
7. Stir in the walnuts.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out evenly into all the corners.
9. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out with some gooey bits sticking to it. You don’t want it liquidy, but you also don’t want the knife to come out clean.
10. When the brownies are done, set them on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes, then turn them out and let them cool completely.
11. Cut into squares and serve them forth.