Best Ever Brownies

This is my version of a fabulous Julia Child recipe from Baking with Julia. Everything I have baked from this cookbook has been really wonderful.

Best-Ever Brownies

1 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks butter
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate morsels
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 large eggs
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Sift the flour and salt together and set aside.


Melt the butter and chocolate together in a saucepan or in the microwave, being careful not to scorch the chocolate. Add 1 cup of the sugar and stir, and then add the vanilla.


Put the remaining 1 cup sugar and the eggs into a bowl and whisk by hand to combine. Little by little, pour half the eggs into the chocolate mixture, stirring gently so the eggs don't set from the heat. With a hand mixer, beat the remaining egg mixture for about 2 minutes until pale and almost doubled in volume. Fold the whipped egg mixture into the chocolate, then gently fold in the dry ingredients until blended.


Pour into a greased 9 inch or 8 x 11 inch baking dish and bake at 350 for 25-28 minutes. Try to just about underbake them. They are better if they are still gooey in the middle.


(Note: I know this recipe has complicated blending issues, but these brownies have a unique texture because of it. You could try just throwing it all together and they would probably still be really good.)



Melt the chocolate with the butter:
Whisk the eggs into 1 cup of the sugar:

I used a heart muffin pan since it was Valentines Day. The baking time will be less if you do this.

I topped it with ice cream and then decorated with chocolate sauce that I heated in the microwave:

Having said ALL THAT, if you are short on time, you could do this with a brownie mix.