The Perfect brownie

One of my favorite sweets is the brownie. It’s been done a million times, with a million variations, but sometimes the good ol’ classic reigns supreme. After testing and tweaking my recipe for a while, I feel like I’ve now achieved the perfect brownie! (at least, according to me!) These are rich and chewy with a smooth glaze, and topped with flakey sea salt to balance all the sweet. So good!

THE PERFECT BROWNIE
by Jennings Ross

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE BROWNIES:
1.5 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup + 2 tbsp dark cocoa powder I use Hershey’s Special Dark
1 tsp instant espresso powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
12 tbsp (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, but not hot
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
3 large eggs

FOR THE GLAZE:
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tbsp dark cocoa powder I use Hershey’s Special Dark
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla

FOR TOPPING:
flakey sea salt I use Maldon Sea Salt Flakes

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease a 9” square pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper, allowing 1-2” wings to hang over the edges. These will act as handles when you pull the brownies out of the pan. Whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, vanilla and eggs. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir to combine.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then lift out of the pan and place on a rack to cool completely. Tip: run a knife along the edges of the pan to loosen the edges before pulling out. Be carefully to keep the the brownies flat when pulling out, or they can fold or crack in the middle.

For the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, butter, honey, milk and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth.

Pour the glaze on the cooled brownies, spreading to the edges and creating little swoops for decoration. Sprinkle generously with flakey salt. Let dry completely, then cut into squares.

Notes:

• I prefer milk chocolate to dark, and used dark chocolate cocoa powder, by mistake the last time I made these. I actually loved it, and the color it gave the brownies was so pretty! If you’re skeptical of the dark chocolate, give it a try!

• You’ll notice there’s a teaspoon of espresso powder in the mix. This helps enhance the chocolate flavor. You won’t taste any coffee in the finished brownies.