deep, dark, and decadent

This month's Martha Stewart Living may have been my favorite ever, and here's why -- an article titled "Top Chocolate Desserts".  Yes, please. 

The whole issue was "the best" of this-and-that, but the double-chocolate brownies caught my attention.  First, I should say that when I was little, boxes in the pantry were for cereal, Wheat Thins, and animal crackers (you know, the ones that came in the circus box with a little string?), NOT cake mixes, brownie mixes, or anything of the like.  I didn't even know what Hamburger Helper WAS (or that there was such a thing) until 6th grade when I spent the night at a friend's house.  Basically, my mom (and every other woman in my family) is queen of the kitchen, so it's just in my blood to bake from scratch.  And it really is better, I promise. 

I have go-to recipes for most things, but the perfect brownie recipe has eluded me.  Plus, I am a fan of a good, fudgy, dense brownie; I don't go for the cake-y hybrids.  Okay, if you twist my arm I will definitely eat them.  Happily.  But I wanted an honest-to-goodness chocolate brownie recipe with the shiny, sugar-y top.  So to celebrate the beginning of spring break, I tested the double-chocolate brownies in the April issue of MSL.

Okay, enough of that.  Here is Martha's delicious recipe, with selected pictures.  One day I will learn to take a picture of every step.

You'll need:
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into large pieces
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I didn't have any bittersweet since this was an on-the-whim project, so I used 4 oz unsweetened and 2 oz semi-sweet.  It was a great balance!)
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, sifted
Martha says:  [to add crunch to the brownies, stir 1/2 cup of walnuts or pecans into the batter.]
(I also added about 1 tsp vanilla)

I also added my own little twist because I'm a cream cheese nut (and it just sounded good at the time!):
Cream Cheese Filling:
8 oz cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat)
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350.

Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment, leaving a slight overhang on all sides. (The overhang will be your handles later.)

Melt butter and chocolate in a double boiler or a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, stirring until smooth.  People always think this is going to be scary/difficult/whatever, but it is so easy!!  Just make sure your bowl is heatproof! At Christmas I broke a bowl of Mom's because it looked almost identical to a Pyrex bowl that I have -- turns out it shattered right into the pot with a horrific "CRACK!"  We had a good laugh, cleaned up the glass, and started over.

Remove from heat, and whisk in sugar.

(this is where the pictures become somewhat, um, irregular.)

Whisk in eggs, 1 at a time, until combined.

(I also added the vanilla, about a teaspoon) 

Whisk in cocoa and salt. 

Fold in flour until well combined.

Add walnuts or pecans here if you're using them.  While I love nuts in my brownies, I was feeling something a little different when I made these: cream cheese filling.  (yay!)  Just use a mixer (a hand mixer will work just fine) to beat the cream cheese a little.  Add the sugar until the two are fluffy, then add the egg and vanilla.  The mixture should be smooth. 

This mixture is also great for making cookie bars -- just use your favorite chocolate chip (or other) cookie recipe, put half in the bottom of the pan, pour the cream cheese mixture over the dough, and top with the rest of the cookie dough.  Delicious!

Pour [brownie] batter into pan.

I then poured the cream cheese mixture on top of the brownie batter and used a knife to swirl it.

When I make these with cream cheese again I'll probably use the cookie technique - half of the batter, cream cheese mixture, half of the batter.  The batter was so dense the cream cheese mixture didn't really settle.  Oh, well, still yummy.

Bake until set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs, 35 to 40 minutes.  Let cool slightly in pan, about 15 minutes. 

Lift brownies from pan using parchment paper.  Remove parchment and transfer to wire rack.  Let cool completely; cut into 9 squares.

I don't have a picture of this...I was too busy enjoying the chocolate overload.  So good.  Definitely a keeper recipe!