Did someone say brownies?

Why, yes. Yes, we did. It’s National Brownie Day, an important occasion we know you’ll want to celebrate.

Whether you like walnuts in your brownies or frosting on top of them, or whether you want the beauty of simplicity with nothing but chocolate and more chocolate, we can all agree that this is a sublime and scrumptious food holiday.

Some people want brownies that are more like cake, while others want them to be ooey, gooey, and fudgy. And who doesn’t love the slightly caramelized edges and corners? Those are sometimes scraps, trimmed for aesthetic reasons to give cleaner lines to the brownies. But connoisseurs know they’re actually the best part, the prize.

Brownies have been beloved since the late 19th century — specifically since 1893, when the Columbian Exposition was held in Chicago.

Legend has it, wrote Suzanne Hall in an essay entitled A Batch of Brownies, that Bertha Potter Palmer, a society maven, asked the chef at her Palmer House Hotel “to create a dessert that could be tucked into a box lunch for ladies to eat while attending the Columbian Exposition. The result was a super-rich, fudgy-chocolate confection — the Palmer House brownie.“

Specifically, Mrs. Palmer wanted something less messy than pie and smaller than a slice of cake. The resulting creation was quite dense, loaded with walnuts and topped with an apricot gelatin glaze.

The original confection wasn’t labelled a brownie; this name was first used for sweets featured in the Sears, Roebuck catalogue in 1897.

Mixes became popular in the mid-20th century, and many swear by making their brownies with these convenience products. A bit of water, a splash of oil, a few eggs, a quick stir ... and, voilà.

But you know what? Baking brownies from scratch is almost as quick and easy.

There are as many variations on brownies as there are items to stir into them: nuts, chopped candy bars, chips (either chocolate or potato), and anything else that might strike your fancy. Had Ohio legalized marijuana in the November election, we might have offered a recipe for that add-in, as well.

You can also flavor brownies with liquids other than water and milk, such as coffee or rum or even the juice from a jar of maraschino cherries.

Blondies – vanilla-based butterscotchy bars – don’t really count as brownies. The general consensus is that chocolate is an essential ingredient. And the recipes offered today are loaded with chocolate.

Now, go bake a beautiful batch of brownies. Bask in the bliss.

Contact Mary Bilyeu at mbilyeu@theblade.com or 419-724-6155 or on Twitter @foodfloozie.

 

RECIPES

Julia Child’s Best Brownies

These are classic brownies — dense and decadent — with the perfect crackly top. They need no further adornment.

8 ounces butter, softened

6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

2 cups sugar, divided

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 large eggs

1-1/​2 cups flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with foil, letting some hang over the edges for easier lifting, and grease the foil.

Melt the butter and chocolates together in a small saucepan over very low heat, stirring constantly. Add 1 cup of the sugar, cook for 30 more seconds, then remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour mixture into a large mixing bowl.

Place remaining 1 cup sugar and the eggs into a medium mixing bowl; mix just to combine. Little by little, pour half of this egg mixture into the chocolate; whisk after each addition to combine thoroughly.

Using an electric mixer, beat the remaining egg-sugar mixture in the medium mixing bowl on high for 3 minutes; the mixture will become much lighter in color and thicker. Fold this mixture into the chocolate. Add flour and salt; fold into batter until completely incorporated.

Pour batter into pan and bake for 25 minutes. When done, the top will be very thin and crack when a knife is inserted to find out if the center is mostly set and gooey (what you want), but not wet/​uncooked (not ready yet). If too wet, continue cooking in 5 minute increments. (This can take as much as 10 more minutes, given variables with ovens and pans.)

When brownies are done, remove from the oven and let cool completely. Remove from the pan using the extended foil to lift; peel down the sides of the foil, then trim 1/​4” from edges using a serrated knife. Cut into 4 columns, then turn brownies and cut into 4 more columns. (Run the knife under hot water and wipe it clean after every cut, to make slicing easier and to get cleaner lines.)

Yield: 16 brownies.

Source: Adapted from Julia Child, Baking with Julia.

 

Vegan Viennese Brownie Cups

Deep, dark chocolate flavor, walnuts, and a hint of sweet-tart apricot give these easy dairy and egg-free brownies a European flair. The flavors are reminiscent of the original brownie, created at Chicago’s Palmer House Hotel in 1893.

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1/​4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Pinch of kosher salt

1/​2 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder

1/​2 teaspoon espresso powder

1/​2 cup vanilla-flavored almond milk

1/​2 cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/​2 cup chopped walnuts

3-1/​2 tablespoons apricot jam

Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with 10 paper liners.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and espresso powder. In a measuring cup, combine almond milk, oil, and extract; pour over dry ingredients and stir to combine well. Stir in walnuts.

Divide batter among the 10 lined muffin cups. Place a dollop of jam in the center of each brownie cup.

Bake for 25 minutes, until brownies feel set when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted into them (just to the side of the center) comes out clean. Let cool completely in the pan.

When cool, place powdered sugar into a sifter and sprinkle over the brownie cups.

Yield: 10 brownie cups.

Source: Mary Bilyeu.

 

Triple Chip Toffee Brownies

Sometimes you want simplicity, in brownies or cookies or ice cream. Other times, you want to load up on all the goodies. These rich brownies have lots and lots of goodies in them.

Batter:

1/​2 cup butter

1 ounce milk chocolate chips

6 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 tablespoons oil

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon prepared coffee

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/​4 cup flour

1/​2 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder

1/​2 teaspoon kosher salt

Topping:

1/​3 cup milk chocolate chips

1/​3 cup white chocolate chips

1/​3 cup milk chocolate toffee chips

1/​4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

Make the batter: Place the butter into a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl; heat until melted. Add the unsweetened chocolate and stir to combine. Stir in the cocoa powder, oil, eggs, sugar, coffee, and vanilla until blended. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Pour into pan.

Make the topping: Combine the milk, white, and toffee chips; use a spoon to sprinkle them evenly over the batter. Bake for 25 minutes until a tester comes out with a few crumbs attached. Cool completely. Melt the semi-sweet chips and drizzle the melted chocolate over the brownies. Let set.

Trim 1/​4 inch from the edges, then cut into 16 pieces.

Yield: 16 brownies.

Source: Mary Bilyeu.

First Published December 8, 2015, 5:00 a.m.