Brownies – Definitely Invented by Women

This is one of my favourite Barefoot Contessa Recipes, adapted to a personal pan size for those “emergency brownie days”. Emergency brownie days in my books are usually also accompanied by vodka, if it happens to be available in the fridge. That’s how I concluded brownies were probably, most likely, created by stressed out women everywhere. Women who have been pushed to decide that just chocolate simply wouldn’t do; chocolate and butter and sugar together would be soooooo much better.

Extremely Chocolate-y Brownies
adapted from the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Ingredients

• 2.5 oz. unsalted butter, melted
• 3.5 oz. semi-sweet/bitter-sweet chocolate chips, melted
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tbsp. instant coffee granules
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp. flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• a small pinch of salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Celsius. Line a small brownie pan, 6″ cake pan, or loaf pan with butter and flour, and put parchment paper on the bottom – since this is a “personal pan” brownie recipe, you don’t need a regular brownie pan.
2. Combine butter, chocolate, egg, instant coffee, and vanilla together in a bowl. Whisk together until mixed well.
3. Add in the dry ingredients, and whisk until everything is incorporated.
4. At this point, you can chop in nuts or extra chocolate chips. If you do, toss them together with a tbsp. of flour first so they don’t all sink in the batter.
5. Pour batter into pan and bake until the top starts to crack and a tester comes out clean.
6. Forget about cooling. Grab a spoon and dig in. Have vodka ready if necessary and available.