tuesdays with dorie / baking with julia: best-ever brownies
Homemade brownies… I’ve tried many different recipes over many years. Though this might be sacrilege to say, at my house, the boxed version typically wins. The brand varies over time. The current favorite is Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Brownies from Costco. When I saw that this week’s recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie was “Best-Ever Brownies”, I knew I’d have to try them out and see how they matched up.
I love how the recipe starts out by stating if your brownie preference is cakey (vs. fudgy) to just move onto a different recipe. Fortunately, we are firmly in the fudgy camp.
This recipe starts by melting bittersweet and unsweetened chocolate with butter. Then, an egg and sugar mixture is slowly mixed into the chocolate. More of the egg and sugar mixture is whipped until it turns a lovely pale yellow shade which gets gently folded into the chocolate. Finally, the flour is gently folded in as well.
The brownies bake until they are just set. I checked them after the recommended 23 minutes, but let them go for 25 minutes. Then, we had to wait for them to cool (torture!). When it was time to cut into them, the brownies were moist and fudgy. There was the slightest of crust of top. There would have been even less if I’d taken them out on initial checking at 23 minutes.
The judges at my house are tough. How did this recipe match up against the box mix? Howard said they were pretty good, better than most from scratch recipes we’ve tried, though maybe not “best-ever”. Were they better than Ghirardelli? It was a close matchup. While both fudgy, they were different kinds of brownies. These brownies were all about the fudgy center, without much regard for the edges. Personally, I’m an edge eater. I love the chewy (not cakey) edges and especially the corners of brownies. Ghirardelli has more edges to balance the fudgy interior. But, even if these weren’t best-ever, they were still damn good.
If you want to try for yourself, visit this week’s host Monica’s site A Beautiful Mess where she shares the recipe. The recipe can also be found in Dorie Greenspan’s book, written with Julia Child, Baking with Julia. You can also visit the Tuesdays with Dorie LYL post for this recipe to find links to other baker’s brownie experiences.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Posted on 20 November 2012, in Baking, Tuesdays with Dorie and tagged brownies, chocolate, Tuesdays with Dorie. Bookmark the permalink. 10 Comments.
A Plateful of Happiness 
Yummy! I love the Ghiraradelli ones too. But Jennifer’s homemade are a close second! I’ll have to give these a chance too!
Betsy, your “Best-Ever Brownies” certainly look fabulous – dark and chocolaty and with the perfect brownie “crust”. I enjoyed reading how you “pitted” brownie box mixes agaist the homemade version – since brownies are an American “invention”, there are basically almost no such boxed mixes available here but I love reading about the different choices available in the U.S.
I will take this opportunity to wish you a “Happy Thanksgiving” (even it is two days early)!
Yes, I am on “team fudgy” as well – but prefer the centers over the edges (don’t understand the brownie edge pans, I am all about maximizing the middle).
Ghirardelli boxed brownie mix is one of the few mixes that still find their way into my house. Can’t mess with a classic :-)
Have a great Thanksgiving!
I love the Ghiradelli brownie mixes and my favorite is the turtle brownies. I just haven’t found a made-from scratch turtle brownie recipe that compares. Your brownie looks perfectly fudgy. So glad you both enjoyed them. I actually like both cake and fudgy brownies, heck, I just love anything chocolate. :) I hope you and Howard and your family have a marvelous Thanksgiving, Betsy!
The edges are my favorite, too! These edges weren’t crusty enough for me.
Betsy, I’m an edge eater too! Ghiradelli brownies are the best mix…and I don’t use mixes very often!
Your brownies look absolutely perfect…mine were a little more cakey. I let them bake a bit longer…could not pull them out while still oozing batter. They were wonderfully delicious!
These were great with Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate. Happy Thanksgiving!
Definitely in the fudgy camp here as well. And these were perfect. Happy T-day to you, too.
I didn’t know if I was the gooey or cakey type, but since this recipe I have to say I am definitely gooey! We loved these!
Your brownies look like they turned out great!
Brownies are the one thing I don’t mind making from a box. The store bought brownies bites are always good too!