Chocolatey Deliciousness

Here's another installment to the Deliciousness baking series. (I didn't think it was going to be a series till just now, but I think it's a good idea!) Brownies is the deliciousness today, and let me tell you, these are probably the best brownies I have ever eaten! Chewy, gooey, and oh-so-chocolatey, you need to try these.

Outrageous Brownies
(Ina Garten & Martha Stewart, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, New York: Clarkson Potter, 1999; see FoodNetwork for the original.)

1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, divided (about 2 bags)
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
6 extra-large eggs
3 tablespoons instant coffee powder
2 tablespoons real vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided (1 cup for batter and 1/4 cup in the chips and nuts)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups diced walnut pieces (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 13 by 18 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan. (Yes, this is going to make a giant sheet pan of brownies.)

Melt together the butter, 1 pound chocolate chips, and unsweetened chocolate on top of a double boiler. Cool slightly. Stir together the eggs, instant coffee, vanilla and sugar. If you don't have instant coffee on hand, stir in 3 tablespoons of prepared hot coffee into the chocolate mixture instead. (The coffee brings out the flavor of the chocolate, but if you don't feel like going through the trouble, leave it out.) Stir in the warm chocolate mixture and cool to room temperature, this takes about 10-15 minutes.

Stir together 1 cup of the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the optional walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips with 1/4 cup flour to coat. (Mixing the extra chocolate chips and the optional nuts in flour makes sure that they won't sink to the bottom of your brownies during baking.) Then add to the chocolate batter. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until tester just comes out clean. Halfway through the baking, rap the pan against the oven shelf to allow air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Do not over-bake! Cool thoroughly, refrigerate well and cut into squares.

Letting it cool before cutting allows you to get neat brownie squares. But, if you're too impatient like the rest of us, dig in with a glass of milk! Or something. Anything, because frankly, it's not going to matter with your mouth full of this amazing brownie.