Decadent Brownies:

By Noni

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, plus more, softened, for pan
• 1 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.
For your brownie batter, melt your butter in a medium (or large) heatproof bowl
over a pot of simmering water.
While the butter is melting, whisk your natural cocoa powder, sea salt and sugar
in a separate bowl. (The sugar and salt will work as abrasive agents to get any
lumps out of the cocoa.) Whisk the cocoa/sugar/salt combo into the melted
butter. Continue to whisk the ingredients together in the bowl over the
simmering water until the sugar has dissolved fully. The mixture should look
like fudge and pull away from the bowl into a ball. Remove from the heat and set
on a dishtowel on your counter, and allow the fudgy mixture to cool down until
it's warm, but not hot anymore.
While that is cooling, line the bottom and sides of your 9 by 13-inch baking pan
with parchment paper or foil. You want to leave about 4 inches of overhang on
the 2 opposite sides. These serve as your handles to remove the brownies from
the pan in 1 piece, so make sure that there is enough of the overhang for you to
have a solid grip. Grease the parchment or foil well.
Stir in the vanilla into the cooled fudge mixture to loosen it up. Add the eggs
into the mixture 1 at a time, adding the second egg after the first egg is fully
incorporated. The batter should look shiny and well blended. Add in your flour
and stir it until it's fully incorporated. Once it looks fully blended, beat the
batter vigorously for at least 45 strokes. This'll not only get out any pent up
stress, but it will make the brownies chewy. Fold in your chocolate chips.
Spread the very thick and fudgy brownie batter evenly in the lined pan with an
offset spatula or your greased hands.
Pop the brownies in the oven and bake until they get a nice crust and your house
smells like brownies, 30 to 35 minutes. Let them cool completely on a rack or a
dishtowel on your counter.