Toasted Walnut Fudgy Brownies
This recipe employs several easy but impactful techniques to achieve a supremely deep and complex chocolate flavor, which pairs perfectly with the roasted nutty notes of the toasted walnuts.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325°F.
While oven is preheating, combine ground flax and water in a small bowl and set aside to gel into a flax egg.
Set up a double boiler by adding a couple inches of water to a saucepan on the stove and placing a medium heat-proof bowl on top of the pot. The bottom of the bowl should not touch the water, but the pot should be wide enough to keep the bowl stable.
Sift cocoa powder into the bowl and turn the burner to medium-high to start heating the water.
Once the oven has preheated, roast walnuts in an 8” square metal baking dish for 10-12 minutes. They should be fragrant and visibly crisp, but not burned. Set aside to cool when they come out of the oven and increase the oven temp to 350°F.
While the walnuts are roasting, add the hot coffee to the cocoa powder and whisk vigorously to combine.
Once the water in the pot is simmering, add the chopped chocolate, butter, and oil to the cocoa mixture and allow to melt undisturbed for 30 seconds. Whisk gently, then vigorously, to emulsify. Turn off the heat and carefully (use oven mitts to protect you from the steam!) remove the bowl from the pot. Whisk in the sugars, then place the bowl in the fridge to chill for 10 minutes.
Transfer the roasted walnuts to your cutting board and roughly chop. Tap out any leftover nut dust from the 8” square pan. Grease the pan on all sides, then lay in a sheet of parchment paper to fit the width of the bottom in one direction and come up the sides in the other direction. You should have parchment extending up two opposite sides of the four sides of the dish. Grease the parchment paper as well, then set pan aside.
Remove the mixing bowl from the fridge and make sure the bottom surface is no more than warm to the touch. Add flax egg, vanilla, and brandy and whisk vigorously to combine. Sift in the dry ingredients and whisk together, taking care not to overmix. Add the chopped nuts and chocolate chips and fold together with a spatula.
Pour into prepared pan and smooth the thick batter into a flat layer. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the top appears matte and the edges are crisped.
Let cool completely in the pan. For an even fudgier texture, refrigerate before cutting and heat if desired upon serving.
Ingredients
Wet
3 T ground flax seeds
½ C water
¼ C cocoa powder
½ C strong brewed coffee, still very hot
5 oz unsweetened baking chocolate bar, roughly chopped
6 T butter, cut into 1 T pieces
3 T canola oil
⅔ C granulated sugar
½ C packed dark brown sugar
1.5 t vanilla extract
3 T brandy (or whisky or spiced rum)
Dry
1 cup [heaping] bread flour (or 1 C all-purpose flour + 2 t vital wheat gluten)
1 t espresso powder
1 t salt (reduce to ½ t if using Earth Balance butter)
½ t baking soda
Mix-Ins
1 C walnuts
⅔ chocolate chips
