The Baked Brownie

{The following is what I wrote back in October 2011 . . . I just wanted to add some recent pictures I took}

I'm back.  I've taken an almost five-month break from devoting any time to this blog, because I had a bun of my own baking.  Two months ago, we welcomed our fourth child to our family!  His name is Calvin and he is just perfect.  In honor of his perfection, I decided that my first new recipe card after my maternity leave should also be perfect.  So here you go.

I took this picture of my most recent batch of the baked brownie.
Trust me, people, they really are that good.  I actually prefer them
after  they've cooled because they are too rich for me when warm.

I have a confession to make: whenever a recipe calls for eggs at room temperature, I get a smuggitty little smile of smugness on my face.  Because I keep chickens and ducks.  And I always have room temperature eggs.  Either I can go out and collect some right when I need them, or I already collected them and they're on the counter waiting to be cleaned, or I already collected them, cleaned them, and put them in the fridge . . . but they're not quite as fridge-cold as the eggs that I collected, cleaned, and cold-ed the day before.

Almost too pretty to eat . . .

But, darling egg-layers notwithstanding, I am smug every time I make these brownies anyway, because they. are. THE. BEST.  No, I'm serious.  I never thought I would invoke Oprah's name on this blog, but I found this recipe  because the picture of the brownies looked amazing, and when I clicked a link to find out more, I read an article about how this recipe is from Baked, a fancy bakeshop in Brooklyn, is one of Oprah's favorite things, and is also America's Test Kitchen's favorite brownie recipe.  Hell-o.  With an endorsement from A'sTK, how can you go wrong? (For other delicious recipes from A'sTK on this blog, you might want to try Barbecued Dry-Rubbed Chicken, Ultimate Cinnamon Buns, and Asian Lettuce Wraps).

They are super rich, which I love, because I'd rather taste more chocolate and less sugar in my brownies.  And they have that gooey, perfect crust that only the best brownies have.  I have adapted this recipe slightly to mine and my husband's tastes: adding another 1/4 tsp of salt and another tablespoon of cocoa, leaving the brown sugar unpacked, and cutting out the teaspoon of instant espresso powder (I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints {Mormons}, so I don't drink coffee or tea and try to avoid other caffeinated beverages).

You can google "The Baked Brownie" and get all kinds of amazing pictures, but this is one of my own actual photographs taken on my own actual mommy camera.

It's as difficult to get a picture of this brownie as it is to get one of the elusive Bigfoot--they vanish before your eyes into the dense undergrowth . . . er, into the dense husband's mouth . . . er, they just vanish quickly.

You're very welcome.