Spicy Brownies

By therman

Renato Poliafito

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder (such as Valrhona)
• 1 tablespoon ancho chile powder
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger, or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 9 ounces good-quality dark chocolate (60% to 72%), coarsely chopped
• 2 ounces good-quality milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature

Preparation

Step 1

•Heat oven to 350°F. Butter bottom and sides of a 9 x 13-inch glass or light-colored metal baking pan. Line pan with parchment paper and butter the parchment.
•In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, chile powder, cinnamon, salt and ginger. Set aside.
•Place chopped chocolates and butter in bowl of a double boiler over medium heat and stir occasionally until completely melted and combined.
•Turn off heat but keep bowl over water in double boiler. Add both sugars and whisk until completely combined. Remove bowl from water and let mixture come to room temperature.
•Add 3 of the eggs to chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined. Add remaining eggs and whisk until just combined. Do not overbeat or brownies will be cakey.
•Sprinkle flour mixture over chocolate. Using a spatula, fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients until there is just a trace amount of flour mixture visible. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top with a spatula.
•Bake for 30 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking time, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.


Makes: 12 large or 24 small brownies.

Nutty Twist: For peanut butter brownies, omit chile powder, cinnamon and ginger. Add 2/3 cup slightly warmed smooth peanut butter and 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract to batter after adding eggs.