Double Chocolate Brownies

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Double chocolate brownies have a fudgy and gooey texture on the inside and are slightly crisp outside. Infused with dark, rich, and intense double chocolate flavour, these brownies will not only satisfy your chocolate cravings but can easily make you come back for more, I promise.

Brownies are my favourite chocolate confection. These are delicacies that not only make any special occasion more special but also are the ultimate comfort food. And what can be more special and comforting than the goodness of extra chocolate? Nothing.

Although I am a dedicated baker, I prefer my brownies to be fuss-free. Easy to make, from scratch simultaneously maintaining the virtue of rich brownies. So, my fondness for brownies made me try out various recipes and even boxed mixes to find my perfect recipes. Through tons of failures and mix-and-match methods, I created a recipe for the double chocolate brownie.

Ingredients and possible substitutions

• Butter- Butter adds lots of flavour, texture and richness to brownies. But if you want to replace butter with oil feel free to do so. Make sure to use flavourless oil. Extra virgin olive oil is best.
• Cocoa Powder-Here I have used Dutch processed dark cocoa powder. It gives a deep chocolatey flavour and slight bitterness which helps balance the sweetness. But feel free to use semisweet, which helps balance. It’s totally up to your preference.
• Chocolate-I have used semisweet chocolate but if you want more deep flavour you can dark chocolate.
• Instant Coffee Powder- Coffee helps in bringing out the flavours of chocolate. I have used instant coffee powder you can use espresso as well.
• Sugar (granulated)-It helps in maintaining the overall structure and texture of the brownies. Here I’ve used granulated white sugar. Feel free to use brown sugar as it enhances the flavours of brownies.
• Vanilla Essence-It elevates the taste of brownies.
• Salt- To balance the flavour and elevate the taste.
• Eggs-Helps in moisture maintenance. Make sure they are at room temperature.
• Flour- Provides basic structure and body of brownie.

Process to create double chocolate brownies

For a step by step process check the recipe card below.

Releasing the flavours of butter and chocolate

First step in making double chocolate brownie is melting butter and chocolate together then adding cocoa powder, coffee powder in to it. This process is important because of the following reasons:-

• Melted butter plays a huge roll in the texture of brownies. It ensures the brownie is chewy and fudgy.
• Melted chocolate makes for smooth texture.
• Blooming of cocoa powder is the process of incorporating hot liquid with cocoa powder thus releasing the intense and dark flavours of cocoa. By adding coffee in to the mix the cocoa flavour is further empowered.

There are various methods to do this like microwave, saucepan etc. But the best technique is to use a double boiler. Double boiler ensures that butter or chocolate doesn’t burn by providing adequate heat.

Double boil or Bain-Marie or Dun there are various fancy names for this process. But don’t get overwhelmed by fancy names, it’s actually very simple process. Fill the saucepan or pot with two to three inches of water. Place the pan on heat and let water simmer. Now place a heat resistant bowl on top of pan but make sure the bottom of bowl doesn’t come in contact with water. Now put butter, chocolate, cocoa powder and coffee powder in the top bowl and let steam from the bottom pan melt it.

Mixing Sugar and Eggs

To the chocolate-butter mixture add sugar and mix till incorporated. In the mixture add eggs one by one. Add vanilla extract also.

It is better to use hands than a mixer because when we beat sugar and eggs together they turn light and fluffy which results in light and airy texture rather than dense and fudgy. To ease the burden on your hands either add eggs one by one or use a mixer at low speed for 30 seconds.

Addition of dry ingredients

Sift in dry ingredients. Sifting ensures there are no lumps and proper mixing takes place. Again use hands instead of a mixer to make sure batter isn’t over-mixed. Add chopped chocolates and mix. These chopped chocolate adds that extra chocolate flavour.

Chopped chocolate instead of chocolate chips is used because chocolate chips have stabilizers which ensures they hold their shape even when baked. On the other hand when baked with brownie batter chopped chocolate creates large pockets of gooey chocolate.

Preparation of baking tray and oven

Colour and material of baking pan is very important. Light-coloured metal pans heat up fast and cool down fast. Dark pans and glass pans take time to heat up and also to cool down. Therefore you should exercise great care while using them as temperature variation may affect cooking time.

Here 9×9 inch light-coloured metal pan is used. Line the metal pan with parchment /butter paper and grease it with oil/butter/spray. The parchment paper/butter paper should have a little extra length than the pan to easily lift out the brownies.

Preheat the oven to 165℃ (330℉).

How to know if brownies are done?

25 to 30 minutes and 165℃ (330℉) are baking time and baking temperature respectively. But it is not necessary you will end up with same result because every oven is different. The temperature calibration of every oven is different or healing or cooling process is different. But there are various techniques through which it can ensured that brownies are baked perfectly.

• Insert a toothpick or a narrow stick in the center of brownie. If the toothpick comes out with few moist or wet crumbs brownie is ready to be removed from oven.
• The center of brownie will look slightly under done than that the rest of the brownie.
• If still unsure remove 5 minutes prior to above mentioned time. The residual heat of pan will continue to cook the brownies. For fudgy consistency under-baked brownie is better than over-baked one.

It is necessary to let the brownie rest in the pan while cooling. The residual heat of pan will continue to cook. By giving time to cool down in the pan we are ensuring that the cookies would come out perfectly.

Double Chocolate Brownies are ready

Remove from the pan by lifting the extra length of parchment and butter paper. Cut it in 16 pieces or like your preference. Store them in air tight container up to 3-4 days.

FAQ’s

Why do my brownie have a cakey texture?

There are few reasons for this:-

1. Not measuring flour properly:- Brownies are fudgy because it has low flour content compared to fat content. So it necessary to not add more flour. It’s best to scale the flour but if you don’t have weighing scale make sure to never scoop the flour with your measuring cup. Rather use spoons to fill measuring cup with flour.
2. Over-mixing batter:- Make sure to use spatula when mixing flour and mixing eggs and sugar. If over-mixed three of these ingredients can completely change the structure of brownie.
3. Over-baking brownie:-Over-baking leads to brownie loosing all it’s moisture thus losing the fudgy and dense structure.