Chocolate brownies in 40 minutes

I have been meaning to post this recipe after the first time I made these, a couple of weeks back. Since then I have made it  several times. Usually quickly after work or sometimes in the morning while having breakfast . These cute little brownies take no more than 40 minutes to get ready since you thought about them. Its lesser time than I take to get ready for work.

Every baker, I am sure, has a no-fail brownie recipe. Although it is really difficult to mess up with brownies. Just throw in a few things together, and bake. They will create themselves.

Apart from the other times when you or someone else craves for an indulgent dessert, these are the peculiar instances when you just have to bake these :

Distracted? Have a lot on your mind? Friends coming over and you have to treat them with something freshly baked? Have to multi-task while baking? Or simply lazy to sieve and whisk and fold? Yes? Then brownie is your remedy, lady!

Now It is said that the first brownie recipe appeared in a cookbook by Fannie Merritt Farmer in 1906. So it’s a relatively newer delicacy. There are several myths surrounding the origin of a brownie, but the best one which I liked or got convinced is this :

A housewife did not having baking powder and hence her cake did not rise while baking. Nevertheless, she cut it into pieces and served it as a finger food dessert to her guests. The guests were delighted and hence a new baking-powder-less version of flattened cake, a.k.a the Brownie came into existence!

The second recipe for brownies, appeared in 1907, in Lowney’s Cook Book. The recipe added both an extra egg and additional chocolate to the Fannie Farmer recipe, thus creating a richer brownie. She named the recipe Bangor Brownies.

Here is an extract from the book :

And now here’s our recipe for the brownie :

Makes about 16-20 brownies

Ingredients :

• 115 gm butter (salted), at room temperature
• 200 gms  granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 85 gms dark chocolate, chopped
• 85 gms all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• a pinch of salt if using unsalted butter

Method :

1. Pre-heat oven to 170°C / 350°C
2. Melt the chopped chocolate chunks in a double broiler or in a microwave in short 20 second bursts. When the chocolate is melted half-way, add the butter and melt further. Whisk with a balloon whisk till it gets homogenous.
3. Whisk in the sugar and then eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla essence.
4. Stir in flour with a spatula.
5. Line a greased8*8 or a 9*9 baking tray with parchment / wax paper. Pour the brownie mixture in the prepared tray.
6. Bake at 170°C / 350°C for 25-30 minutes.
7. Cool completely before cutting it into pieces.

And as promised, the brownies are ready in 40 minutes.

Go grab a glass of milk and enjoy your freshly baked brownies.

I slathered a few of them with caramelized condensed milk, i.e condensed milk can boiled in a pan of water for two hours. It leads to a thick caramelised toffee like condensed milk. (My husband was paranoid when I was boiling the can, but it is quite safe to do so. I have known several bakers doing so for many years).

Fudgy chocolate brownies. I bet you can’t stop at one.