Ina's Outrageous Brownies

By

1999, The Barefoot Contessa
Show: Food Network Specials
Episode: All-Star Desserts

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Ingredients

  • 1 pound unsalted butter
  • 1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
  • 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
  • 6 extra-large eggs
  • 3 tablespoons instant coffee granules
  • 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2 1/4 cups sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 cups chopped walnuts

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter and flour a 12 x 18 x 1-inch baking sheet.

Melt together the butter, 1 pound of chocolate chips, and the unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl over simmering water. Allow to cool slightly. In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, coffee granules, vanilla, and sugar. Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl, sift together 1 cup of flour, the baking powder, and salt. Add to the cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips in a medium bowl with 1/4 cup of flour, then add them to the chocolate batter. Pour into the baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes, then rap the baking sheet against the oven shelf to force the air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Bake for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake! Allow to cool thoroughly, refrigerate, and cut into 20 large squares.
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REVIEWS: (There were 440 EXCELLENT reviews!!!)

These brownies are definitely outrageously rich. I halved the recipe and baked in an 8x8 dish. Worked perfectly. Yum!

A friend called them " exqiusite." These are the best brownies I have eaten and made! The onli prob is on my part... Don't have the 18 inch pan that she asks for so have to make it in 2- 13 x 9 pans. Guess I 'd better order some huh. Its more steps then some recipes but worth every second!!

Taste was off. I thought these brownies had a great texture but the taste was too strong. They tasted more like dark chocolate than milk chocolate. I

OMG!! GREAT!!!... so says my husband. Unlike the majority of the population.... I am not a fan of chocolate and I especially don't like the smell of it. My husband, on the other hand, loves chocolate enough for me and ten others. He also seems to have a refined palate for good chocolate and is very picky. So, with my husbands birthday around the corner, I decided to set my dislikes aside and do something that would allow him to endulge his guilty pleasure. Let me say, I picked the PERFECT recipe. He LOVED them. He said these were, by far, the best brownies he has ever had. I read a lot of the revies and did as others said to do.... I followed the recipe exactly. I am confident they tasted just like Ida's. These were a huge hit and I have no doubt this was my first batch of many years to come of brownie baking.

They live up to the name! I made these brownies last spring for the first time and don't think i can eat any other brownie- EVER. I have become a "brownie snob"! They live up to the hype of how wonderful they are. They are crazy rich, but you don't have to eat a huge piece and you can freeze the rest. Love you Ina!

Outrageous Brownies - Winner! These are the only brownies I make. I have made these too many times to count and every time I make them I get so many compliments. The name is perfect for the result. Ina is the best! Love her show, love her recipes.

Perfect brownies! I love Ina, I love her show. These brownies, although very rich, are delicious! Had no problems at all. Thanks, Ina!

Best Brownie Recipe Yet! I LOVE brownies, but just can't stand the box mix. I've made several different recipes and tried them out on family and friends and this is the first to get all positive reviews. I didn't use all of the chocolate the recipe called for and the brownies still cake out rich and chocolaty. This is a grate recipe, expecially for family gatherings because it makes a fair amount. If your a chocolate lover, you will enjoy this recipe.

AMAZING BROWNIES!!! The only reason why someone would give these brownies a less than perfect score is because their ingredients were inferior and/or they did not follow the directions correctly. This was the first time I made these and they were the most delicious brownies I have ever tasted! I did whisk the eggs, sugar, coffee and vanilla for several minutes and then slowly added the warm chocolate mixture. I think this helped incorporate all the ingredients better and maybe why that one reviewer said her's were oily. I folded in the flour mixture added the nuts/chocolate chips and placed in pan. I lined my pan with parchment paper which helped remove the brownies from the pan and cut into perfect squares. Thank, Ina, for an exceptional recipe! It is a keeper! You are my favorite Food Network Star!

Help!!! I LOVE, LOVE, this recipe. I have made it time and time again and they have always been amazing. This is one my family asks for me to make for special occasions, the 4th being one of those times. However, I'm not sure what I did wrong, but they were AWFUL!!! They came out crumbly, dry & the bottom seemed oily. I did bake them 5 minutes longer as I used a stoneware bar pan and at 35 minutes they mixture was very runny. I have checked and rechecked my ingredients and all seems to have been properly measured and properly mixed. I am just dumb founded. Any suggestions????

What is wrong with some of you people? While I understand that personal taste is just that, 'personal', I do NOT understand how some of your results turned out 'gross', oily, greasy, etc. You MUST follow this recipe to the letter or your results will be different. Use approximate amounts of ingredients and use a thermometer in your oven. All oven temps vary so NEVER trust your oven without an oven thermometer. Also, be sure to use the toothpick test. Do not over bake! Do not BEAT your batter I read a review by a gal who said that her boxed brownies were better. HOGWASH. Dear reviewer, you did NOT follow the recipe by your own admission. Did you expect the same results as Ina's? You simply will not get the same results without following the exact same method. Do not use cheap ingredients. Use GOOD chocolate, good vanilla, etc. Make sure ingredients are at room temp, including the eggs. This is beneficial to this recipe. Use quality bake ware. Butter and flour your baking sheet and make sure that the dimensions are the same as Ina advised you to use or you WILL turn out with different results. As always, I find that when a recipe does not work out, that the baker/Chef is at fault unless of course, the recipe was bad to begin with carrying faults of its own. This is not the case here. This recipe has been reviewed and re-reviewed with excellent remarks. For those of you knocking this recipe I advise with a kind smile to follow the recipe, use quality gear, use a thermometer, and take the TIME that is called for in the recipe. Do NOT cut corners or your brownies will fail. If you don't want to follow the recipe, yes indeed, use a box recipe by all means but don't knock a tried and true recipe without doing as you were instructed to do in the first place.

Not worth the extra effort.I was in the mood for some chocolate satisfaction so I decided to give these a try. I made a half batch because I only had limited amounts of the ingredients for this on hand. I still had a whole tray of brownies, and they were good. But honestly not worth the extra effort and dishes needed to make them. Next time I will just go with my usual boxed brownies. Here's a tip - when I make boxed brownies, I add about 3/4 cup chocolate chips to the batter and everyone always loves them. So easy and so good.

BEST. BROWNIES. EVER. I've been making these brownies for my friends, family and co-workers for the past 3 years now, and every single person LOVES them. It's become the "thing" people ask me to bring to functions. If you like chocolate, especially, these are for you. I haven't posted a review on these until now because I just recently began reading some reviews and felt I needed to defend these brownies lol!!! Some reviewers on here have complained about the way their brownies have turned out, that they're "oily" or "gross," and they would "prefer a boxed brownie." No offense, but if they have come out this way, I have to agree with others on here that you are definitely doing something wrong. I'm thinking if you don't follow the recipe and instructions exactly you could have problems I've made these over and over, my sister has too, and they're always amazing. I've never altered anything (except I've been low on walnuts and just went with it-they were still awesome), and always follow the instructions exactly, and they are amazing. Just FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS, including refrigerating them after. If you try to eyeball measurements in baking, your product will probably be off. Also, I don't think it matters that you're not a coffee drinker as far as adding the instant coffee. It simply enhances the flavor of the chocolate. If you "try to eat healthy," then just don't look at this recipe, that's obviously not what it's for. It's a recipe for outrageous brownies. Yes, these are super rich, they're decadent, they're fudgey, they use a lot of butter and chocolate, and this is exactly how they're supposed to be, hence the name "Outrageous Brownies." Thank you, Ina Garten!

WOW! I had started making these brownies after I saw this episode, and I added my own twists. If i am making them for a group where there maybe kids, I make them without nuts, but also I add half a bar of white chocolate into the melted chocolate, something about that chocolate gives it a punch. Otherwise I make those brownies using coffee liqueur as well as an irish cream liqueur. This is one of my favorite recipes that Ina has

Absolutely spot on! I made these for an easy dessert for a family gathering. I follwed the recipe to the letter. First off, yes they make a lot; they are perfect for a gathering. Second, you absolutely have to let them cool and refrigerate them. The chocolate comes together and you get perfectly chocolate squares of heaven. I was hesitant to try this recipe at first, unsure how just how any brownie could be "outrageous". I'll be making these again for sure.

Kids don't like the coffee. I really like these brownies, but I have to make a few modifications if I want my nephews to eat them. I use semisweet chocolate in place of the unsweetened chocolate, and I leave out the instant coffee (or use only 1 T instead of 3). I agree that these are not really fudgy brownies-they are more like a cake consistency. But they're really good anyway. Be prepared though-they make a TON! That's why I modify them, I have to please the crowd.

Best brownies I've ever had! These are incredible!

Dark chocolate taste! I'm a fan of dark chocolate, my guy is not. I felt they were nice and sweet as brownies are meant to be, he thought they wern't sweet enough! I halved the recipe and it filled a 9x13 pan. The texture was exactly like a boxed version but the taste was much better and so much less oily than boxed. They were fudgy, not cake like, not fudge like.. they were brownie like- just as you would expect a brownie to be. Im not at all disappointed with this recipe neither is my guy but i would suggest if you dont like a dark like chocolate taste, go with milk chocolate chips or a mix of milk and semi sweet. thats what ill do next time.

Good but not great - these had awesome taste but by no means were they fudgy and chewy, much more cake like than fudgy, i even underbaked them by about 3 or 4 minutes

The "ONLY" brownie recipe you will ever want! I DO NOT make brownies from scratch - I am not a brownie person. However, a friend was having a birthday and said she does not like cake - she likes brownies with walnuts. I remembered seeing this segment on TV. Got recipe - all 14 people who helped celebrate agreed - these are the absolute best. I will now make brownies from scratch! I bake everything else from scratch but have always said "I cannot make good brownies from scratch" but can now change my way of thinking. Thanks!

I LOVE these brownies...the only brownies I do like. They have a very "grown up" taste to them and are almost like fudge. Love the ice cream on top!

Great photo! I like to serve these with coffee ice cream.

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