Canal Street Brownies

Canal Street brownies are the kind of small-batch, single-pan brownie recipe that lives on a stained index card in someone’s grandmother’s kitchen. The base is honest: two ounces of unsweetened baking chocolate, a heavy cup of sugar, two eggs, a stick’s worth of margarine, and just enough flour to hold it together. Optional walnuts or pecans add crunch and a bitter note that balances the sweetness.

The technique is essentially fudge-style: beat the eggs and sugar well first to get them light, then work in the melted margarine and chocolate before folding in the dry. Twenty-five minutes at moderate heat in a small 8-inch pan keeps the centers soft and the edges chewy.

Pro Tips

• Beat the eggs and sugar until pale and thick before adding fat. That whipped base is what gives brownies their thin, papery, glossy top.
• Cool melted chocolate slightly before adding it. Hot chocolate hitting raw eggs scrambles them and you lose the silky batter.
• Pull them when the top is set but a tester still has a few moist crumbs clinging. Fully clean tester equals dry brownies.
• Cool completely in the pan before cutting. Warm brownies tear and look ragged; cold ones cut into clean, sharp squares.

Variations

• Use butter instead of margarine for a richer, more rounded flavor.
• Stir in ½ cup chocolate chips along with the nuts for double-chocolate brownies.
• Add a teaspoon of espresso powder to the dry ingredients to deepen and amplify the chocolate flavor without adding coffee taste.