Cristina's Brownies
Submitted by lastanley
Cristina’s brownies are dense, fudgy, and packed with a full pound of walnuts. Built on deep unsweetened cocoa and plenty of butter, then chilled overnight so they slice into clean, bakery-size squares. A serious brownie for serious chocolate lovers.
YIELD
48 servingsPREP
40 minCOOK
60 minREADY
9 hrsThese aren’t your boxed-mix brownies. This is a bakery-style, walnut-loaded slab built for people who take their chocolate seriously.
The richness comes from a generous amount of butter and unsweetened cocoa rather than melted bars, which keeps the chocolate flavor deep and nearly bittersweet. A full pound of walnuts means crunch in every bite.
Pay close attention to the bake. You want the toothpick to come out with a little chocolate still clinging, not clean. Overbake these and the fudgy texture turns to dry cake, so pull them early.
The overnight chill is the step people want to skip and shouldn’t. Cooling and then refrigerating the slab firms it up so a long sharp knife glides through into clean-edged squares instead of tearing warm, gooey brownies into a mess.
The foil sling makes the whole thing liftable, so you cut on a board, not in the pan. It’s a project, but the payoff is a dense, professional-looking brownie.
Pro Tips
- Underbake on purpose: a toothpick with moist chocolate crumbs means fudgy, while a bone-dry pick means overdone.
- Don’t rush the chill. The overnight rest in the fridge is what lets you cut sharp, clean squares.
- Use a long, strong knife and wipe it clean between cuts for the tidiest edges.
Variations
- Swap the walnuts for toasted pecans, or use half nuts and half chocolate chips.
- Stir a teaspoon of espresso powder into the dry mix to deepen the cocoa.
- Cut into smaller squares for a crowd; these are rich enough that a little goes a long way.
Ingredients
Directions
Adjust a rack one-third up from the bottom of the oven and preheat to 350℉ (180℃).
Line a 13 X 9 X 2-inch pan with foil (turn pan upside down and mold foil to the pan, including the sides, turn pan over and fit foil tightly into pan.
Take a piece of butter, place it in the pan (on the foil), and place in the oven only until the butter is melted.
Then, with crumpled wax paper, spread the butter all over the foil and set the pan aside.
Sift together into a large bowl the cocoa, flour and salt and set aside.
In a 3-quart heavy pan over low heat, melt the butter.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sugar, then the eggs two or three at a time, and then the vanilla.
Add the butter mixture to the sifted dry ingredients, pouring it in all at once.
Beat on low speed (of a mixer) or by hand, scraping the bowl as necessary, until ingredients are completely mixed.
Stir in the walnuts.
Turn the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes until a toothpick gently inserted in the middle comes out clean, but with a bit of chocolate clinging to it.
Do not overbake or they will be dry.
Cool in the pan at room temperature.
When the bottom of the pan is just tepid, cover the pan with a length of wax paper and then with a flat cookie sheet or board.
Turn the pan and the sheet over, then remove the pan and slowly peel off the foil.
Leave the cake upside down and transfer to the refrigerator overnight.
Cover the chilled cake with a cookie sheet or board and turn it over again, leaving the cake right side up.
Remove the sheet and wax paper from the top of the cake.
Using a long, strong sharp knife, cut the cake into 24 extra-large brownies (or smaller if you prefer).
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