Brown Butter Brownies

I have been searching for the best brownie recipe ever. I've tried Ruth Reichl's brownies. They are good, but much more like pudding with a cooked top then a proper fudgey brownie. I've tried everything from Martha Stewart recipes to random blogs I had never seen before, but none of them seemed to be the perfect consistency until I found Brown Butter Brownies.

The recipe reads as follows:

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 sticks salted butter
• 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp water
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup high quality semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare a 9x13 baking dish by spraying with non-stick cooking spray and lining with parchment paper (optional, but I like to do it so I can lift the brownies right out of the dish).
3. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Stir constantly until butter has reached a light brown color and little "bits" have formed.
4. Pour the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the sugar and cocoa powder and beat until smooth, almost creamy.
5. Add the salt, water, and vanilla. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing in between each addition.
6. Add the flour and chocolate chips and mix well. Batter will be VERY thick.
7. Use a sturdy rubber spatula to spread batter in the 9x13 pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
8. Let cool, then cut into 2" squares to serve.

A few things to notice. She used salted butter, which is very unusual. Most bakers, including me, use unsalted butter to give us more control over the baking process and how the final result tastes. I chose not to use salted butter and used one teaspoon of salt and unsalted butter. The recipe also requires you to brown the butter. This step is essential or else the flavor won't be right. Brown butter is cooked untill it is golden brown with a few flecks in the melted butter. You need to watch carefully or else it may burn.

These brownies are now my favorite. They are the perfect combination of chewy and fudgey with a nice contrasting crunch from the chocolate chips that only adds to the the intense chocolate flavor that the brownies already have. I made the mistake of bringing the brownies to an event and didn't have any to take home. Luckily I sneaked a few before putting them on the plate, which, believe me, you will want to do.