Best Ever Brownies for Third Blog Anniversary!

Hi all,

How have you been doing? On my side, I am doing great. I was back on 19th and getting all settled after the lazy stay in Abu Dhabi. As with everyone, I tend to get real lazy when I am around my family or shud I say mom? No cooking; not even thinking about it. All what I did was baking some fancy stuffs that my siblings wanted me to bake for them. And some continental and Mediterranean dishes for my dad who loves them. Absolutely nothing elseBut the long gap of non blogging days have made me quite lazy to get back to blogging.

While I was away, I did receive many emails and messages from my readers to check on me which was very sweet. Thank you all for being so kind. I also received many queries which I couldn’t answer them then. I apologize for that; I have answered all your doubts in here. Now let me get straight to the recipe. Yesterday was my dear hubby’s birthday and we had a nice day together. Baked a wonderful cake (strawberry Gateau with Praline) for which he commented it is one of the best cakes I ever made!!Wow!!My husband is someone who is not so fond of sweets and bakes, so any positive comment on sugary stuff is a great thing for me.

Today I am posting a recipe of a brownie that I have been making again and again and again. My blog turns three today. Thanks to all my readers, well wishers and fellow bloggers for your continuous support, encouragement and inspiration. So to make this day a special one, I am sharing this delicious brownie recipe that is very easy to make, very chocolaty and fudgy - a pure chocoholic’s heaven. I am also writing this post to send to Divya's Brownie event. She is a great baker and look at her gorgeous Dulce de Leche Brownies! She never stops to tempt me.

Best Ever Cocoa Brownies

Adapted from Alice Mendrich’s Bittersweet

Makes 16 larger or 25 smaller brownies

Ingredients:

10 tablespoons / 140 grams unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups/280 grams caster sugar

3/4 cup / 80 grams unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1-2 teaspoons instant coffee powder

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla essence

2 large eggs, cold

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup walnut or pecan pieces (optional)

Preparation:

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 160°C. Line the bottom and sides of the baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.

2. Combine the butter, sugar, coffee, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir from time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot.

3. Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in the nuts, if using. Spread evenly in the lined pan.

4. Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 20 to 25. It took me from 32- 40 minutes to bake until I got few moist crumbs on my skewer. Let cool completely on a rack

5. Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares. . (You really need to make sure these have to cooled down completely before you cut them. I never had patience to wait that long and I couldn’t ever cut my brownies neat. As you see, these brownies were cut whilst they were still warm. If you cut them when they are completely cool, you should get neat squares).

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Hasna, my friend, who blogs at het lovely space Hasna'sdelights has shared this lovely blogger award. Thank you hasna. She has been motivating me to re-blog again and is one of the reasons to blog again. I am sharing this award to all my fellow bloggers..