Gargantuan Brownies

These brownies are not messing around. A full cup of butter melted with half a pound of unsweetened chocolate creates a batter so intensely fudgy that the flour almost feels like an afterthought. Six eggs give it structure without making it cakey, and the result is a dense, rich slab with a crackly top and a chewy center.

Baking in a jelly-roll pan instead of a standard brownie pan is what makes these “gargantuan." The larger surface area means thinner brownies that are all about that perfect ratio of crisp edges to fudgy middle. Cut them into 15 generous bars and every single one has at least one chewy edge piece.

Toasted walnuts are scattered throughout, and toasting them first is a step you shouldn’t skip. Raw walnuts taste flat and slightly bitter in baked goods. Toasted walnuts bring a deep, nutty crunch that stands up to all that chocolate.

These store well at room temperature for a week in an airtight container, or freeze them for up to a month.

Chef Tips

• Melt the butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly. Chocolate scorches fast and there’s no fixing burnt chocolate
• Whisk the sugar and eggs into the warm (not hot) chocolate mixture. Too hot and you’ll scramble the eggs
• Line the pan with foil and grease it. This makes removal clean and easy. No stuck brownies, no broken corners
• A toothpick coming out clean means these are done. For fudgier brownies, pull them when a few moist crumbs cling to the pick

Variations

• Espresso brownies: Dissolve a tablespoon of instant espresso into the melted chocolate. Coffee amplifies chocolate flavor without tasting like coffee
• Peanut butter swirl: Drop spoonfuls of peanut butter onto the batter before baking and drag a knife through for a marble effect