Classic Brownies

This is my version of Dorie Greenspan's brownies from her book, Baking: From My Home to Yours. 

I've used the basic recipe many times- I sometimes substitute the walnuts in the recipe with pecans or hazelnuts (my favorite) and add different flavors (peppermint, orange, vanilla) depending on what kind of brownies I want to make.

 I baked a large batch of brownies last week. I doubled all the ingredients (except the butter, eggs and nuts) and used a 9-x-13-inch pan.  I didn't follow the method mentioned in the original recipe and just did what I normally do when I make brownies. 

Ingredients:

(For a 9-x-13-inch pan)

• 1 stick/8 Tbsp butter
• 1 12-ounce bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Hershey's)
• 1 ½ cups sugar
•  3 eggs
•  2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp instant coffee granules (I used Nescafe)
• A pinch of salt
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Method:

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line a 9-x-13-inch baking dish with foil and grease well.

Melt the chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Add the coffee powder, vanilla extract, salt and sugar and mix well. Add the eggs, stir in the flour and combine. Stir in half of the chopped walnuts and mix well to get a smooth batter.

Dump the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle the remaining walnuts on top of the batter. Bake at 325 F for around 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool completely before cutting into squares.

These brownies are very chocolaty, moist and rich, and have a nice crackled crust. 

I've made them on different occasions and they've always been a hit.