Monday, April 12, 2010

Black Brownies

Have you noticed a ton of brownies all around foodie blogville?  One person makes them and then someone else sees them and has to make them and on like wildfire.  Well, I caught fire too.  But I did have an alterior motive as well.  I bought this dark cocoa last year, maybe even two years ago.  Aside from the pumpernickel-ish bread I made with it, I have not used it.   Dark cocoa tastes exactly like Oreo cookie chocolate or Hydrox chocolate wafers.  I have no doubt that it is what they use in their product.  So I didnt know what to do with it.  King Arthur to the rescue.  I made their dark cocoa version of Wicked Easy brownies.  The brownies are mostly fudgey.  The taste great and they work up in one bowl.  How can you beat a baked good that is done in one bowl?  I liked the idea so much that while I prepared the one I also put the ingredients to make another in a container so that the next time I want to make brownies it will mix up real quick. KA has never let me down.  One of the commenters on the KA site said they were too greasy.  I really didn't see that.  You know there is butter in it but I thought it was a real nice brownie that I would make over again.

Black Brownies
adapted from this recipe at King Arthur

1 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup black cocoa + 1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 large eggs
1 stick butter or margarine, melted
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Put all of the ingredients into a large bowl, stir, then beat the mixture till smooth.

Spoon the batter into a lightly greased 9 x 13-inch pan. Bake the brownies in a preheated 375°F oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until they're just barely beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan. Let them cool completely before cutting. Yield: about 2 dozen brownies.

13 comments:

Maria said...

These look nice and rich. Yum!

Mary said...

I need to get some of this cocoa! I just made the homemade Oreos from Smitten Kitchen with Dutch-process cocoa, and they were really good, but I bet they'd be spectacular with the black cocoa.
Oh, and I got the cookie cutters and letters at Williams-Sonoma. I haven't used them since I made the mary mary culinary graham crackers, but they are fun!

Mimi said...

I love that back cocoa flavor, it's so intense, I bet theses were great.
Mimi

Taste of Beirut said...

Lori

these look so darkly delicious! Gosh I do love brownies! regarding your request that I point out the sumac bushes. I would not dare on my life! especially since some of them are poisonous!

grace said...

gadzooks, those are dark! seriously heavy-duty dark! they look great, lori--bravo!

Shelby said...

I'm sure they would be awesome! I love dark chocolate! I need to get some of this cocoa too!

kat said...

I adore dark cocoa & use it instead of regular in so many things. These brownies look like a piece of dark chocolate heaven

Manggy said...

Cocoa-based brownies are definitely underappreciated. I love how rich and deep they look! :)

Robin said...

Did you find that the black cocoa made them bitter? I was just wondering, as I have used the black stuff too and my recipe got too bitter but it was for a cookie so that could have been the difference. I could eat a few black brownies myself, love fudgie brownies.

Lori said...

They were not bitter at all. The flavor that really popped out was the "oreo" flavor.

Joanne said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

I just made brownies also! Great minds think alike. THese look so fudgy and delicious!

Katy ~ said...

I think chocolate lovers would swoon over these!

CC11 said...

I can never get enough brownies - I really shall have to try KA brownies