Brownie (English: Chocolate brownie) is a chocolate cake with a characteristic brown color (English brown - “brown”; hence the name), traditional for American cuisine. Depending on the recipe, it may have the consistency of a cake, cupcake or cookie. Cut into flat rectangular pieces.
Brownie is one of the most popular desserts in the USA and Canada. This delicacy can be found in any cafe and pastry shop, and lovers of home baking are sure to bake it at home. Brownies are usually served with coffee, ice cream, and for children with warm milk. For many Americans, these brown squares have a calming effect, reminiscent of childhood and home comfort, like, for example, grandma’s pies for Russians.
One story claims that the brownie was invented at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago in 1892, and the name “Brownie” first appears in a Boston Cooking School recipe book published in 1884.
Despite all the apparent ease of preparation, brownies have one distinctive feature - the baked goods are never baked to the end! It is this, as well as the absence of baking powder, and not the square shape of the pieces, as is sometimes mistakenly believed, that determines that this baked product belongs to the brownie class. It is very important to set the temperature correctly. 180 degrees is optimal.
How to correctly determine whether a brownie is ready?
The first sign is a “caramel” or, more correctly, “chocolate” smell of baking. The chemical compounds responsible for the smell contained in cocoa beans are very volatile and are easily released when heated. Overheated (overbaked) chocolate pastries lose their wonderful aroma, which is its main charm!
The second sign is the wooden stick test. At the exit, the stick should be surrounded by small pieces of baked but sticky dough. If the batter drips in thick drops, keep the brownies in the oven for another 6 minutes. It is important to remember that baked goods left in the switched off oven tend to overcook; this is also facilitated by the shape, which retains heat for a long time. Therefore, as soon as the readiness check has occurred on a wooden stick, the brownies should be immediately removed from the oven.
Brownies can be served warm, at room temperature or very chilled. It is best to cut the cakes completely cooled and even kept in the refrigerator for several hours. When warm, brownies are tender and resemble muffins in taste and structure; when cold, they are dense and resemble chocolate truffles in taste and structure.
Brownie
Ingredients:
- chocolate (bitter, at least 70%) - 200 g
- butter - 150 g
- cocoa - 1 tbsp. l.
- sugar - 200 g
- vanilla sugar
- chicken eggs - 4 pcs.
- flour - 100 g
- walnuts - 1/2 cup
- powdered sugar for decoration
Preparation: Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Place chocolate and butter in a water bath. Grind the walnuts using a blender. Meanwhile, the butter and chocolate had already begun to melt. Without removing from the water bath, stir until both components are completely dissolved. Remove from the bath and cool slightly.
Sift cocoa into the chocolate-butter mixture. Add regular and vanilla sugar and beat with a mixer. Add the eggs one at a time, beating a little each time.
Sift the flour, mix and add walnuts. The last time we go through the mixer. Grease the pan with butter and line it with baking paper, which we also grease with butter. If you have a silicone mold, greasing and lining are not necessary. Pour our dough into the mold.
Bake at 180 degrees for 20–30 minutes, depending on the characteristics of the oven. I advise you to check the brownies at the 20th minute. If a good crust appears, it’s ready. Serve garnished with powdered sugar or cocoa, melted chocolate or berries.
Prepared with cream cheese filling
Required Products:
- five grams of baking powder;
- 0.2 kg dark chocolate;
- five eggs;
- cream cheese - about half a kilogram;
- plum packaging oils;
- sugar – 200 grams;
- 0.1 kg flour.
Prepare sequentially:
- Place the chocolate and butter in a container suitable for heating, turn the products into a liquid mixture.
- Add three pre-beaten eggs, flour combined with baking powder, as well as sugar to the resulting mass and mix thoroughly with a mixer.
- Using a fork, grind the indicated amount of cheese with the remaining eggs and sugar.
- Pour a little dough into the mold so that it covers the bottom, place the cheese filling on top and another layer of dough. Keep in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for at least 35 minutes.
Chocolate Mint Brownies
Ingredients for the dough:
- eggs – 2 pcs.
- sugar – 160 g
- butter – 80 g
- cocoa powder – 3 tbsp.
- flour – 120 g + add a pinch of salt and baking powder
- vanilla essence – 1/2 tsp.
For filling:
- low-fat soft cottage cheese – 200 g
- sugar - 40 g
- mint - leaves from 6-7 branches
For the sugar glaze:
- powdered sugar - 140 g
- milk - 2-3 tbsp.
- mint - leaves from 3-4 sprigs
- a few drops of green food coloring
Preparation: Line a 20 cm square cake tin with parchment paper and lightly grease it. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees.
Beat eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Melt the butter (in the microwave or in a saucepan over heat) and stir it with the cocoa powder. Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and whisk everything together.
Add sifted flour with baking powder and salt. Beat with a mixer until smooth. To prepare the filling, grind the mint in a blender or chop finely with a knife. Mix cottage cheese with sugar, mint and vanilla essence.
Pour half the dough into the mold and smooth the surface. Carefully spread the curd mixture over the dough (it is convenient to use a pastry syringe for this), then pour in the remaining dough. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool in the pan.
To prepare the sugar glaze, grind the mint in a blender (or cut it with a knife), mix with milk and pour into the powdered sugar with constant stirring. Add green food coloring and mix thoroughly. The glaze should have the consistency of sour cream. Spread the icing onto the cooled cake and let it set. Trim the edges of the sponge cake and cut into squares.
The most chocolate brownie
Ingredients:
- nuts (hazelnuts or almonds) - 80–100 g
- dark chocolate - 200 g
- butter - 250 g
- sugar - 250 g
- chicken eggs - 4 pcs.
- flour - 125 g
- baking powder - 1/4 tsp.
- cocoa powder – 45 g
Preparation: finely chop the nuts and fry in a frying pan. Melt chocolate with butter in a water bath. Beat eggs with sugar. Mix flour with cocoa and baking powder. Mix the egg mass with the “dry” mass (flour, cocoa and baking powder). Add 1–1.5 tsp. rum or vodka.
Gradually pour in the cooled melted chocolate and nuts. Cover a baking sheet with paper, grease with oil and lay out the dough (shape 20*20 cm). Bake at temp. 180 degrees 30–35 min. Check the readiness with a toothpick; it’s okay if the toothpick is slightly “raw”.
Drizzle melted chocolate on top (I left 5 tbsp when I melted it for the dough). Cut into pieces and you can enjoy.
With chocolate
- Time: 36 minutes.
- Number of servings: 7 persons.
- Calorie content of the dish: 378.4 kcal per 100 grams.
- Purpose: for dessert.
- Cuisine: American.
- Difficulty: easy.
If you need a delicious and quick dessert with a cup of tea or coffee, add an easy chocolate brownie recipe to your culinary repertoire. This pie could easily be frosted, but it has such a delicious sugar crust that it’s not necessary. It is better to serve these baked goods with a scoop of vanilla or fruit ice cream to highlight the pronounced chocolate taste .
Ingredients:
- butter – 160 g;
- dark chocolate – 240 g;
- sugar – 185 g;
- chicken eggs – 3 pcs.;
- flour – 85 g;
- baking powder – 1 tsp.
Cooking method:
- Melt the butter and chocolate broken into pieces in a water bath, but do not bring to a boil.
- Separately, beat the eggs with sugar until white and a fluffy foam forms.
- Gently add the sugar-egg mixture into the slightly cooled chocolate-butter base and stir until smooth.
- Stir in the sifted flour and mixed with baking powder.
- Pour the dough into a greased form and place in an oven preheated to 180 degrees. Bake for about 20-25 minutes. Serve after cooling completely.
Brownie or chocolate happiness recipe
Ingredients:
- dark chocolate - 200 g
- butter - 150 g and a small amount for greasing the mold
- sugar - 350 g
- eggs - 4 pcs.
- flour - 100-110 g
- cocoa powder - 1/2 tbsp. for the dough and the same amount for preparing the form
- a pinch of salt
Preparation: melt chocolate and butter in a water bath. It is important to pay enough attention to this step, as the mixture can be overheated, and then it will separate, or worse, the chocolate will begin to burn. As soon as the mixture becomes homogeneous, it should be removed from the heat and allowed to cool slightly.
At this time, eggs and sugar need to be beaten into foam. Now you can introduce the chocolate mass. At the very end - a mixture of flour, cocoa and salt. After stirring thoroughly, but not for too long, the dough can be poured into the prepared form: greased with butter and sprinkled with cocoa. The layer of dough in the mold should not be too thick: 2-2.5 cm is ideal.
All that remains is to bake the brownies: 180 ºС for 15-25 minutes (depending on thickness). Once the brownie passes the dry wooden skewer test, remove it from the oven, cool it, cut it into squares and enjoy! Whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream makes a great addition to brownies.
Cocoa based recipe
Chocolate brownie cake can also be prepared in an economical way, for example without chocolate. By the way, it turns out to be very tasty, although it is not made according to the classic recipe.
Required Products:
- a spoonful of vanillin;
- two eggs;
- 150 grams of plums. oils;
- 70 grams of cocoa;
- 0.25 kg sugar;
- 75 grams of flour.
Goovim sequentially:
- Place butter, cocoa, sugar in a saucepan and bring to a liquid state in a water bath.
- Wait until this mass has cooled down at least a little, add vanillin and eggs, mix well. The last stage is flour, here you will have to constantly stir the dough for several minutes until it becomes homogeneous.
- Pour the prepared mixture into the mold, distribute evenly and cook for about 30 minutes at 170 degrees.
