My brownies tasted more flavourful after I added 1 ingredient to the batter
Despite how simple they may seem, brownies can be difficult to bake, especially if you’re somewhat of a beginner like me. The texture can become too cake-like and dry, they can be undercooked in the centre and can even end up being sickly sweet if too much sugar is added. With all the ingredients for chocolate brownies conveniently already in my cupboard, I decided to try and make my own rather than heading down to my local bakery.
After scrolling through Instagram for recipes, I landed on one from Broma Bakery, which included an intriguing ingredient — brown butter. Brown butter adds a nutty flavour to baked goods, with it more commonly used in cookies and blondies. I had never heard of adding them to brownies before, but I decided that the combination sounded delicious.
The Broma Bakery recipe took just 20 minutes to prepare and another 20 minutes in the oven, meaning I didn’t have to spend hours in a hot kitchen on a sunny day.
According to the site, the brown butter adds “a depth of flavour that takes these brownies to a whole new level and gives them the most irresistible fudgy texture” — and I couldn’t agree more.
These brownies were decadent, fudgy and had a beautiful nutty flavour that offset the sweetness from the chocolate.
I used some semi-sweet chopped chocolate in my brownies along with some caramel chocolate buttons I found in the back of the cupboard.
How to make brown butter brownies
Ingredients
170g unsalted butter
65g Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
350g packed light brown sugar
Three large eggs
94g all-purpose flour
Half a teaspoon of salt
112g semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips, or chopped chocolate (optional)
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease and line an 8×8-inch pan with parchment paper on all sides. Set aside.
2. Next, it’s time to brown the butter. When doing this, patience is key. If you turn the heat up too quickly, you could end up burning the butter. Place the butter in a small saucepan and set over medium-low heat. Make sure to use a silicone spatula to stir and scrape the butter from the bottom and sides of the saucepan every 10 to 15 seconds. The butter will take a while to melt, and then it will start to foam. After a while, the foam bubbles will get smaller, and the butter will start to produce a nutty aroma. Continue to cook the butter until it starts to change colour and brown bits start to float in it. Once it’s golden brown, remove it from the heat.
3. Add the cocoa powder and vanilla extract to the brown butter and whisk to combine until no lumps of cocoa remain. Set this to one side.
4. Next, beat the eggs and brown sugar together until they’re light and fluffy. A stand mixer is best for this, but I used a handheld electric whisk, and this worked fine.
5. Add the butter mixture to the egg mixture and use a rubber spatula to fold together.
6. Add the flour and salt and fold until all the flour is absorbed into the mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips.
7. Pour the mixture carefully into the baking pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Mine were cooked after 20 minutes, but yours may take longer. It’s worth testing them after 20 minutes. They should be done when the top is set, but a knife inserted into the middle still comes out with a bit of brownie batter on it.
I allowed mine to cool in the pan for an hour before transferring to the fridge. I then cut them with a cold knife and enjoyed a serving with a dollop of crème fraîche.