In my experience, brownies is brownies. They are usually overcooked and/or dry out within about 10 minutes. These however renewed my faith in all that is the gooey richness of a superior brownie. Yes, it makes a batch large enough to feed every large singing family from the 70’s, and yes, that means you end up using an entire pound of butter, but hey! if you are that much of a wussy, then take half to work and share.

Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa

Brownies (worthy of your time and waistline)

Yield: 20 large brownies

1 lb unsalted butter
1 lb plus 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided
6 oz unsweetened chocolate
6 extra large eggs
3 Tablespoons instant espresso
2 Tablespoons real vanilla
2 1/4 cups sugar
2 cups plus 1/4 cup flour, divided
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups diced walnut pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 13×18 sheet pan.

Melt together the butter, 1 lb of chocolate chips and unsweetened chocolate on top of a double boiler. Cool slightly. In a large bowl, stir together the eggs, instant coffee, vanilla and sugar. Stir in the warm chocolate mixture and cool to room temperature.

In a small bowl, stir together the cup of flour, baking powder and salt. Add to cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and chocolate chips with 1/4 cup of flour to coat. Add to chocolate batter. Pour into prepared pan. Rap the pan against the counter a couple of times to get all the air bubbles out.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until tester just comes out clean. DON’T OVERBAKE! Cool thoroughly, refrigerate well and cut into squares…

…or just cut a piece out while they are still warm to make sure they turned out okay.