Hazelnut Chunk Brownies*

These brownies go all in on chocolate. Cocoa powder in the batter and chunks of chopped semisweet chocolate scattered throughout create a double hit of richness, while toasted hazelnuts add a nutty crunch that plays beautifully against the fudgy center.

The low flour-to-butter ratio is deliberate. Just ⅓ cup of flour against a full cup of unsalted butter keeps these brownies dense and fudgy rather than cakey. No leavening agent at all, so there’s no rise. What you get is a flat, intensely chocolatey slab.

Toasting and husking the hazelnuts first is a step worth the extra few minutes. Raw hazelnuts taste bland and their papery skins add bitterness. Toasted, they turn golden and fragrant with a snap when you bite through them.

Pull the pan when a tester comes out barely moist. These firm up as they cool, so anything past “just done” in the oven means overbaked on the plate.

Kitchen Tips

• To husk hazelnuts, toast them until fragrant, then rub in a clean kitchen towel. Most of the skins will flake off.
• Melt the butter over low heat and whisk the sugar and eggs in off the heat. This prevents the eggs from scrambling in the hot butter.
• Chop the chocolate into uneven chunks. The irregular pieces create pockets of melted chocolate and solid bits in the same brownie.
• These improve overnight. Wrap tightly and the texture becomes even denser and more fudgy the next day.

Variations

• Espresso hazelnut: Add a tablespoon of instant espresso powder to the batter for a mocha depth.
• Nutella swirl: Drop spoonfuls of Nutella on top of the batter and swirl with a knife before baking.
• Dark chocolate: Use bittersweet chocolate chunks instead of semisweet for a more intense, less sweet brownie.