Recipe: I’m Sorry Brownies

If you haven’t noticed, I’m procrastinating. We’ve been back from our road trip for almost two weeks and I still haven’t posted any pictures or recaps about it. It’s not for lack of blogging either, I’ve been telling you about our new living room setup, herb garden, my new favorite book, a delicious batch of muffins I baked, and how we ate our frozen wedding cake after our one year anniversary.

There are many silly reasons I haven’t posted about our trip yet (there are so many pictures to edit, Yelp ate all of my check ins so writing reviews has taken longer than I would have liked, work has been super busy, right when we got back I dove headfirst into creating new blog content) but the honest to god truth is that I have a super hard time adjusting back to real life after an amazing vacation. So it’s been kind of torturous to go back through all the pictures and relive the whole thing. I know it’s silly and I apologize.

I promise that tomorrow will be the first day of trip updates. Heck, I might even post twice a day to make up for lost time. Until then, here’s a recipe in the form of a peace offering. If you ever need to apologize like I do right now, do it with these brownies.

Domestocrat’s Classic Brownies (adapted from JTB‘s Old School Fudge Brownies)
1 & 2/3 cups sugar
1 & 1/2 cups AP flour
1/2 tbsp. espresso powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/3 cup water

The two main ingredients (in my opinion):

I got the espresso powder a while ago from King Arthur. I have been using it in chocolate dishes because it really adds depth to chocolate flavors. It was great in this recipe but you can omit it if you don’t have any. If you want to make a swap use 1-2 tbsp. of brewed coffee instead (no grounds!).

The instructions are simple. You need 3 bowls: in one mix the Dry Team (first 5 ingredients), in another mix the Wet Team (last 4 ingredients), and in another mix the cocoa powder and melted butter. When you’re ready, slowly incorporate the Dry Team into the Wet Team in a stand mixer (mixing by hand is fine too). The final step is to mix in the cocoa/butter.

If the batter seems dry, add water one tablespoon at a time. This batter is thick though and shouldn’t be too wet. It should be dense and sticky. Bake the brownies for 30-40 minutes in a 350 degree oven. You can use a toothpick to check for doneness however, the middle should be fudgey/slightly raw. If the inside is cooked through, you’ve probably burned the outside. The cooking time varies a lot depending on the pan you bake them in. My bakeware is roughly 7×7 and created 1.5 inch thick brownies. If you had a shallower pan, they will cook through more evenly.

Making brownies = licking up the extra batter (naturally).

Allow the brownies to cool completely before cutting them. If you don’t, they will fall apart.

These brownies are perfect. Crackly on top, fudgey in the middle. The sweetness is spot on and the chocolate flavor is rich. The espresso powder really makes the chocolate shine. This will definitely be my go to recipe for brownies from now on. Enjoy!