Easiest, One-Bowl, Fudgy Espresso Brownies
While I was growing up my mother was known for her baking. She made chocolate mint chip cookies that my friends were obsessed with and she’d send them in care packages when I was in college. I grew up watching her bake and often helped measure and gather ingredients. I didn’t start baking much myself until I hit a transitional period in my life and needed a creative outlet. I was living with a friend who was gluten free so I started challenging myself with tweaking recipes to make them gluten free (and still delicious). I love a good baking challenge and love trying new flavors, techniques, and editing recipes to make them my own.
Now one of my favorite reasons to bake is for birthdays. I will often volunteer to bake something for birthday parties and get togethers, keeping the birthday person’s tastes in mind. Last year, when planning a beach trip for a friend's birthday I decided I needed to make something that would keep and transport easily; so I landed on brownies. Taking it a step further, I decided to try to make espresso brownies and scoured the internet for the perfect recipe. I found a jumping off point and then made a few tweaks to amplify the flavor… let me tell you, I impressed even myself. These dense, chocolatey brownies have an amazing coffee flavor and are delicious on their own or served with a large scoop of ice cream.
Notes:
I used “golden” brown sugar for this recipe and I’d avoid using dark brown sugar as the flavor and texture of the brownies may be impacted. (Did you even know there were different types of brown sugar? I didn’t until a few years ago, but it makes sense once you realize it has residual or added molasses, which is why it’s brown. 🌈 The more you know!)
I used a mix of dutch process and regular cocoa powder, though you can either on their own, if that’s what you have on hand. The color may be lighter or darker than mine, so just be sure to use the toothpick method to test doneness!
Cake flour is one of those somewhat unspoken baking secrets that certain bakers swear by and promise it creates an unearthly perfect texture and consistency. I won’t promise that. I will say I notice a difference when I use it in my baked goods and it makes dense batter that bakes up in a rich texture. Great for brownies, cakes (duh), cookies, and quick breads - though I won’t recommend swapping 1 for 1, I often just substitute a bit of the all purpose, like instructed below. And that’s that on that.
INGREDIENTS:
10 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate (chopped into chunks, if using a bar)
1/2 cup granulated instant coffee
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar *see note above
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbs cocoa powder *see note above
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cake flour *see note above
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease 8x8 dark pan (you’ll notice the pan in the photograph above aren’t these exact measurements, so use whatever you have that is closest to these measurements). Cut parchment paper to line the bottom and sides, leaving some extra sticking out over the top that you can use to pull the brownies out when cooled.
In a (large bowl) double boiler melt the chocolate, butter (in cubes), and instant coffee. You can create your own double boiler (pictured above) by propping a large bowl on top of a normal pot. Just make sure the water in the pot doesn’t touch the bowl at all!
The instant coffee will likely remain somewhat crystalized while you’re melting the butter & chocolate - that’s okay! After all melted and combined, remove from heat and add both sugars and mix completely. Add eggs one at a time and then vanilla. After fully incorporated add cocoa powder and flours, mix until just combined.
Pour batter into prepared baking pan and bake at 350 for ~30 mins. Test brownies with a toothpick, it should pull out clean when they’re done. Remove brownies from the oven and allow to cool just slightly, then add coarse salt over top (optional). Eat warm on their own, with ice cream, or room temp the next day for breakfast, if you have leftovers. No judgement.
