Ultra-Chocolate Brownies
Warning: these are not for the faint of heart–i.e., those who prefer milk chocolate to dark. These brownies have such a high cocoa content, in fact, that the batter doesn’t flow into the pan, but rather behaves more like a semi-malleable chocolate bar that you have to spatula in one clump at a time. Don’t expect the baked brownies to have the traditional moistness, either–there’s simply too much pure cocoa in them to allow for that. In short, if you don’t like seriously dark chocolate, you won’t like these. If your idea of “dark” is 85%, though, you’ll be in Theobroma heaven.
As a cocoa purist, I refuse to add nuts to my brownies, but you could certainly do that if you’re a nut fan. Chopped dried fruit would also be interesting to add to the mix. Also note: you can easily transform these ultra-chocolate brownies into gluten-free ultra-chocolate brownies by substituting brown rice flour for the standard wheat flour and doubling the amount of baking soda to 2 teaspoons. (Pictured brownies are gluten-free.)
Thoroughly grease an 8×8 glass baking dish and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, whisk together:
1/2 cup coconut oil or melted butter
1 cup sucanat
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
Melt roughly 3.5 oz. or 100 grams of 99% dark chocolate bar in the microwave and stir into mixture. (The best 99% is made by Lindt, but Scharffen Berger is a close second.) Note on melting chocolate: only heat (on stove or in microwave) until the chocolate is partially melted. Stir to melt the remaining chunks. Do not heat chocolate until it is completely melted–you will burn it and ruin it. The best way to make sure you don’t overdo it is only put it into the microwave for about 45 seconds at a time so that you can monitor how fast it’s melting. You’ll be amazed at how rich and smooth the melted 99% is–Nestlé this ain’t. You won’t see oily spots floating on the surface, and the color will be almost black.
Whisk chocolate mixture until smooth, then thoroughly stir in:
1/2 cup whole wheat flour*
1 tsp. baking soda*
1/4 cup cocoa powder (for a fuller flavor, avoid Dutch-processed)
3.5 oz or 100 grams of 75% dark chocolate, broken into chunks.
Use a spatula to get the batter into the greased pan. Try to spread the batter out as evenly as you can; you may find it easier to work with if you grease the spatula. Bake for 35 minutes. Cool in pan before cutting into squares.
Now, that’s a brownie!
*For gluten-free brownies, substitute 1/2 cup brown rice flour and 2 tsp. baking soda.
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Tags: brownies, chocolate, cocoa, dark chocolate, gluten-free
