I can’t remember where I first encountered these over-the-top brownies, but as a lover of brownies, I had a feeling we would eventually come face to face. Deb at Smitten Kitchen made these in 2006 and as she described the obscene amount of butter in the recipe I made a gagging face at my computer screen. I couldn’t make up my mind. Did these brownies disgust me or did I have to have one? Then my sister-in-law asked me to make brownies for her engagement party. Since this was a gathering of 50 people, I felt I could finally make these, praying that I would enjoy one at the party and not take any of these decadent, sinful buggers home. My prayers were answered and while most were polished off at the party, I had three requests to take one for later. The consensus from the party goers and my co-workers (I have a small and grateful fan base that I  brought  a small batch to) was that these were certainly outrageous and very delicious. Several people likened them to fudge and I got the “wow, this is delicious” face. My favorite response was that my boss felt “tweaked” from the extreme chocolate/coffee combo. I was going to take a cue from Deb and cut back on the butter, but I wanted to try the original (mostly) recipe first. These are a real crowd-pleaser and while Ina recommends cutting them into 20 large brownies (another outrageous suggestion), I cut them into 35 medium brownies.

Outrageous ingredients.

Outrageous Brownies

www.dulanotes.com  Adapted from Ina Garten

Below is the recipe I followed. I made my adjustments based mostly on Deb’s advice. I wanted the coffee flavor to enhance the chocolate flavor without being overpowering, so I cut back the coffee. I think the balance worked.  I also cut out a bit of the sugar. I was worried about using Kosher salt, but it proved to be Ina genius. Every so often in the brownie you get a nice hint of salty/sweet. I’ve included my other notes within the recipe.

Cook Time: 30 min.  Makes 20 large brownies (or 35 medium brownies)

1 lb. unsalted butter

1 lb. plus 12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips, divided (I used Ghirardelli semisweet with a few bittersweet)

6 oz. unsweetened chocolate (I used Scharffen Berger)

6 large eggs

1 T. instant espresso powder

2 T. real vanilla extract

1 3/4 C. sugar

1 1/4 C. AP flour, divided (1 C. for batter, 1/4 C. for chips and nuts)

1 T. baking powder

1 t. kosher salt

3 C. diced walnut pieces

1. Preheat the oven to 35o degrees. Grease and flour a 13×18x1 sheet pan (I used non-stick spray with good results. Also, the original recipe is for a 13×18x1-1/2 pan, but I used my 1″ high pan and it worked fine. The brownies rise slightly above the pan, but did not spill over).

2. Melt together butter, 1 lb. chocolate chips and unsweetened chocolate on top of a double boiler (I used a heatproof bowl over a pot with 1 inch of simmering water. Do not let bottom of bowl touch the hot water).

3. In a large bowl stir together eggs, instant espresso, vanilla and sugar. Stir n the warm chocolate mixture and cool to room temperature (cooling the chocolate is important so that the chocolate chips that are added later do not melt).

4. Stir together 1 C. of flour, baking powder and salt. Add to cooled chocolate mixture. Toss walnuts and 12 oz. chocolate chips with 1/4 C. AP flour to coat (the added flour prevents the nuts and chips from sinking to the bottom of the brownies). Then add to the chocolate batter. Pour into prepared pan.

5. Bake for about 30 minutes, but do not overbake! Halfway through the cooking time, rap the pan against the oven shelf to allow air to escape from between the pan and brownie dough. Cool thoroughly, refrigerate well and cut into squares (the pieces cut nicely while cold, but I served them at room temperature).