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  • - [Claire] We always say this, I know,

  • but these are actually the best brownies

  • you're ever going to have.

  • They're gooey, they're chocolatey, they're fudgy.

  • Oh, they live up to every expectation

  • you think a brownie should be.

  • (lively music)

  • We took all the tips and the tricks from the internet,

  • from our old gramma's recipes,

  • from places we'd worked,

  • to find the best recipe that we could.

  • Throw out every other recipe that you have for brownies.

  • This is the one you will use going forward

  • for the rest of your life.

  • (lively music)

  • I'm not trying to toot our own horn,

  • but beep beep, you know.

  • (lively music)

  • All right, guys, as always, prep your tin.

  • You know what to do, butter and parchment.

  • So the first cooking job that I ever had was working

  • for a pastry chef and he made these incredible brownies.

  • When you start working in kitchens,

  • they always say write down the recipes

  • 'cause you're gonna forget them later.

  • And of course, I did not do that,

  • but there are a few things that I remember

  • from his recipe that I really wanted

  • to incorporate into our brownie recipe.

  • Obviously, good brownies need good chocolate,

  • and the chocolate bar you wanna use is dealer's choice.

  • You can go for something really mellow

  • like a milk chocolate bar or go into something really,

  • really dark, like an 80% dark chocolate

  • would work really well in here.

  • We're gonna double up on the chocolate so we're gonna

  • use cocoa powder as well.

  • Because we wanted a really rich, dark flavor and color,

  • we went with the dutch processed.

  • You can use regular cocoa powder here,

  • but we're always looking for that intense flavor,

  • that intense color.

  • The one on the left used regular cocoa powder.

  • It's kind of drier on top and almost too dense

  • and fudgy on the bottom.

  • We're adding a little bit of cocoa powder here.

  • We're gonna add even more later.

  • Espresso powder just does a really great job

  • of enhancing any chocolate flavor in a recipe.

  • If you're worried about the caffeine,

  • you can get a decaf powder as well.

  • It's not gonna taste like coffee or espresso,

  • it's really just another flavor enhancer.

  • When we add the hot, melted butter to the chocolate,

  • cocoa powder and espresso powder,

  • it's gonna help melt everything down and dissolve,

  • which is gonna help keep our brownies

  • really fudgy later on.

  • (lively music)

  • Sugars, we have granulated sugar, and then when deciding

  • between light brown and dark brown,

  • the real difference here is that dark brown

  • has more molasses, ergo more flavor.

  • I don't even know what ergo means.

  • Again, just wanted to knock your socks off

  • with the flavor here and dark brown

  • was the right one for the job.

  • And we're also gonna add a bit of salt

  • as it brings out the flavor in any baked good.

  • (lively music)

  • So we're gonna have six eggs.

  • Always crack your eggs into a separate bowl

  • in case you get any shell.

  • Best way to remedy that is to use the egg shell.

  • It breaks the surface tension and is the easiest way

  • to get eggshell out of your eggs.

  • You can start by adding one egg to the sugar

  • just so you don't make a huge mess.

  • Once you get it going though, you can add the rest of 'em,

  • no big deal.

  • You don't have to be super careful like you would

  • for a cake for instance.

  • So working for that pastry chef,

  • one thing that he did with his brownies is he would beat

  • the living crap out of the eggs and sugar and really,

  • really incorporate tons of air,

  • so much so that it would look like

  • a super thick pancake batter almost.

  • This is what happens when you don't beat the sugar and eggs,

  • kind of just falls really flat, right.

  • The great thing about beating the eggs and the sugar

  • is you create a really solid foundation

  • and you don't have to use a chemical leavener.

  • Then you're gonna pour in that beautiful ganache

  • that we made.

  • Oh my God.

  • Actually, when we were shooting this,

  • there is a crowd of people around us 'cause

  • we couldn't get over how insanely delicious this looked.

  • Oh God, I just, I can't believed we baked these.

  • Honestly, I could've just eaten the batter myself.

  • (lively music)

  • I'm really upset that America can't get

  • on the metric system, but like fine.

  • If we're gonna use cups, always scoop and level,

  • to make sure we have the right amount of flour.

  • If you just take the cup straight into the flour,

  • it's gonna be denser than you need it to be.

  • And you're going to sift the flour and the cocoa powder

  • into the mixture to make sure we have no lumps

  • and just make sure that we're really

  • quickly incorporating it into the rest of the batter.

  • (lively music)

  • And fold.

  • Because we beat all that air in with the eggs,

  • we don't wanna totally deflate that,

  • so just get the dry ingredients incorporated

  • as quickly as you can.

  • (lively music)

  • Pour the completed batter into your prepped tin,

  • smooth it out to make sure everything's pretty level.

  • (lively music)

  • And into the oven it goes.

  • So these are gonna rise quite a bit.

  • After about 20 minutes, we're gonna take them out.

  • This is my favorite tip of the whole recipe.

  • Take the brownies out and slam them on your kitchen counter.

  • It's gonna crack the top as well as evens out everything

  • and you get a much more consistent texture.

  • These are the same recipe.

  • The one on the left is not whacked, right whacked.

  • At this point, we're also going to add a bit of sea salt,

  • optional but highly recommended.

  • Adds a little salty bite, sweet and salty, always good.

  • With a lot of baked goods, you'll stick a toothpick in

  • and no batter remains, then you're good.

  • It's kind of not the case with these brownies.

  • You will have a good amount of fudginess that comes

  • out on the toothpick.

  • Trust us, they've been in there for like 45 minutes.

  • They're definitely cooked through.

  • They're just fudgy.

  • When they do cool down, they also will deflate quite a bit.

  • It results in a really even texture all throughout.

  • Again, I can't say fudgy enough.

  • I don't even like fudge, little known thing about me,

  • but these brownies are insane.

  • I need to cut these nice.

  • They need to be a good, perfect square.

  • It's so satisfying to see a perfectly cut

  • batch of brownies, obviously.

  • (lively music)

  • Oh my gosh, a little tip too,

  • is to clean your knife after each cut.

  • You'll see a little bit of that fudginess comes off.

  • They're fudgy but they're not dense.

  • (lively music)

  • And that is it.

  • I mean, look at that texture.

  • Look at it!

  • This is like your go to brownie batter.

  • It's amazing as is,

  • but you can also mix in anything that you want,

  • more chocolate chunks, potato chips, pretzels.

  • This is like a phenomenal standard brownie recipe

  • but feel free to go crazy and mix in whatever you want.

  • Making brownies from scratch, you know,

  • there's other options out there that are easier,

  • but it's one of those fundamental baked goods

  • that doesn't take a ton of technique,

  • but they also go with everything and every event.

  • You know what I mean?

  • Like you have a break up, brownies.

  • Birthday, brownies.

  • Like, they kind of work for anything.

  • Just one of those feel good, crowd pleasing deserts,

  • that's just always a win.

  • Okay, that's fine.

  • I'm just gonna keep talking and we're leave it

  • and it's gonna be fine.

  • - [Male] You're funny, Claire.

  • - [Claire] (laughing) Stop.

  • - [Male] You're so funny.

  • - [Claire] You're so funny.

  • - [Male] You're funny.

  • - [Claire] Beep, beep.

  • - [Male] You're slacking.

  • - [Claire] I guess.

  • (camera clicking)

- [Claire] We always say this, I know,

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