The Perfect Brownie. There, I Said It.

I apologize if the post title shocked or scandalized you, but I had to be bold, to make a statement: I have, in fact, found my perfect brownie. Now, I understand that people's ideas of the "perfect" anything, especially brownie, are different, so fear not... I will not try to impose my own personal brownie beliefs on you. But you might as well know where I stand. Most importantly, in the fudgy vs. cakey battle, I fight for the fudgy side, with the caveat that I do like my brownies to have a little structure. I see these ridiculously low amounts of flour--like 1/4 cup--in recipes, and I find myself wanting more than just a big pan of chocolate, butter, sugar, and eggs.

I have fond memories of childhood baking. One of the most fun moments in the kitchen was with my sister, making brownies from a cookbook we had just gotten called Kids Cooking: A Slightly Messy Manual by Klutz (as a side note, one of my friends swears by the chocolate chip cookie recipe in there, but we all know I have my favorite). She and I worked together, cooking up a storm, to make a pan of these brownies, and they were absolutely wonderful, garnering rave reviews from all who partook. And we never made them again because we lost the book.

For the next several years, I would make brownies and think of how they paled in comparison to the joyous chocolatey morsels that emerged from the oven that one evening many years ago. It was not until college that I decided to search on Google for two words, "brownies+Klutz," and, miraculously, I found the recipe and immediately (not kidding!) made brownies for my friends, who declared them the best brownies they had ever had. This is good stuff, people. And then, I went home and, equally miraculously, found the cookbook hiding behind other volumes! What joy, what rapture!

And so, readers, now that I have regaled you with a heartfelt childhood story, I urge you to try this brownie recipe (and it's one bowl, too!). If you wish, you may substitute 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate for the cocoa powder, but I'd try the original recipe first just to experience for yourself the enchanting brownies that have lived in my memories for years. Be sure to measure the flour lightly. This is different from the other recipes on this blog because, for this particular recipe, measure flour as follows: first, place the measuring cup on the counter and fluff up the flour with a regular spoon. Then, take a spoonful of flour and plop it into your measuring cup. Do not shake, tap, or otherwise disturb the measuring cup. Just keep going by taking another spoonful of flour and plopping it into the cup. Repeat until flour mounds over top of cup, and level off with knife. Trust me, if you just irreverently dip the measuring cup into the flour, take a big ol' scoop, and level, you'll have too much flour in the recipe, so please, for this recipe, follow the method. Do it for me. And for brownies, of course.

Okay, enough of this technical talk. Make these brownies and brace yourself because they are out of this world!

The Brownies Dreams Are Made Of
Makes 12 to 16 brownies.
Adapted from Kids Cooking.2 cups granulated white sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
150 grams (1 1/4 cups sifted) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

** Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. **

1. Grease an 8-inch (9-inch) square or 13- by 9-inch rectangular pan for thick or thin brownies, respectively.
2. In large mixing bowl, combine sugar and cocoa powder with whisk until homogeneous.
3. Add melted butter and whisk to combine.
4. Add eggs, all at once, and vanilla, and whisk vigorously until well incorporated.
5. Sprinkle flour and salt over wet ingredients and whisk. Finished batter should be smooth and satiny.
6. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes (8x8 in.) or 20 to 25 minutes (13x9 in.), or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs.
7. Cool completely on wire rack before serving, if you can wait that long.

Blondies: The Other Brownies.

Okay, okay, I know what you're thinking: "Chris, please! I haven't even gotten rid of those cookies yet, and now another recipe?" Yes, another one. After all, it's hot this time of year, and I've got to use up the bag of Ghirardelli chocolate chips before the remaining morsels of goodness melt. I know that I could just eat the rest of the chocolate chips--a viable option, for sure--but perhaps a more generous method is in order.

Enter blondies. While eerily similar to chocolate chip cookies, they are so much more: thick, sweet, rich chunks upon which the taste buds may feast. This recipe is one of the easiest I've ever baked, especially since it only dirties one bowl and uses melted butter. And you know what that means... no electric mixer! Woohoo! Kudos to Deb of Smitten Kitchen for pointing her loyal readers to this blondie recipe.

Making these goodies may be easy as sin, but by the end result, you would never know because the resultant blondies are just wonderful. I will warn you, though: because, unlike brownies, there is no chocolate to cut the sweetness of these treats, you may need a chaser of water. But hey, dessert is supposed to be sweet, so who's complaining? Not I. Enjoy! Oh, and by the way, blondies tend to dry out very quickly on the oven, so make sure to watch them carefully (to the point of paranoia) and to remove them when there are moist crumbs clinging to a toothpick so that the texture inside is perfect.

Blondies
Adapted from How to Cook Everything.
Serves 9 to 16.
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup light or dark brown sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
140 grams (1 cup) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips

** Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. **

1. Grease (with butter, shortening, or spray) an 8x8 in. pan.
2. In large bowl, combine butter and sugar until smooth.
3. Stir in egg and vanilla and mix well.
4. Gently stir in flour and salt until just incorporated.
5. Add chocolate chips and mix until evenly distributed throughout batter.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached.
7. Let cool completely on wire rack (if you can stand it) before cutting.

The Quest Has Ended

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am jumping on the chocolate chip cookie bandwagon several months late. I, too, have been on the quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie, and I have found it. Yet the perfect cookie never goes out of style; it is timeless and is wholly without bandwagon.

Now, in the cookie battle, I choose to plant myself squarely in the "chewy" camp--I like a cookie that is buttery, soft, and rich. I also don't like too many chocolate chips, just enough to dot the cookies with little morsels of goodness. This recipe, which some claim appeared in Cooks Illustrated and which others say has been a family favorite for years, definitely fits the bill. It is soft and gooey, even hours, nay, days out of the oven. The extra egg yolk, it is said, contributes to richness and chewiness without making the texture gummy (sometimes an unintended side effect of egg whites), and the melted, rather than softened and creamed, butter helps the cookies stay chewy for a while (yes, melting the butter is essential!).

I used Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips because I really like a nice sweet chocolate and thought that the milk chocolate chips would add to the overall richness of the cookie. And believe it or not, this brand is only zero to ten cents more expensive than Toll House morsels. Trust me, it's worth it; these cookies were absolutely delicious. Now, I'll warn you--the recipe makes a big cookie, but you cannot skimp. I'm as health conscious as anyone, but the consumption of chocolate chip cookies is not the time for calorie counting. Enjoy a nice big, fat, chewy cookie. If you must, have half, but please, please do not reduce the size of the cookie in the recipe. It makes a difference, y'know!

You won't believe the number of recipes I tried before I stumbled upon this one. But behold! Buttery goodness! And then, the recipe.

Best Buttery Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Allrecipes.
Makes 18 cookies.

280 grams (2 cups) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 cup light or dark brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1-2 cups chocolate chips

** Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. **

1. In small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.
2. In large bowl, combine sugars. Add butter and stir with wooden spoon for a few seconds until well blended.
3. Stir in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Be sure that all ingredients are incorporated.
4. Add dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
5. Gently stir in chocolate chips.
6. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 20 minutes.
7. Drop dough by 1/4 cupfuls onto a greased baking sheet (9 cookies on the sheet, about half the dough).
8. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, until the cookies are just beginning to brown around the edges--don't even let them set in the middle.
9. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes to allow cookies to firm up.
10. Place cookies on wire rack to cool, and repeat with remaining dough.
11. Store any leftovers (say what?) in an airtight container with a slice of bread to preserve chewiness.