Gooey Fudgey Brownies

My lovely sister Kat told me that she was in a doctor's office waiting room and some magazine said that it had THE best brownie recipe ever.  That being a very bold statement, she went and copied the recipe into her phone and proceeded to make it.  The initial reaction was "eh" but it got better as the brownies cooled, and even better the next day.  They really are a special, different brownie.  Very rich, and it would be hard to eat too many of them.  The trick is browning the butter, and pulling them out after 25 minutes, even though they are still gooey.  No clean knives with this recipe! 

Gooey Fudgey Brownies

Cooking spray and aluminum foil
10 T. butter (this is a stick plus 2 more Tablespoons, folks)
1 1/4 C. sugar
3/4 C. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 t. salt
1 t. vanilla extract
2 t. water
2 eggs
1/3 C. plus 1 T unbleached flour
1 C. walnuts, optional


Place the rack in the bottom third of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees.  Use an 8x8x2 baking pan  and add aluminum foil with overhang on all sides.  Coat the foil with cooking spray.  I wouldn't want to fish these brownies out without doing this step.

Melt butter in LARGE saucepan on medium heat, cooking until butter stops foaming and browned bits form at bottom of pan, about five minutes.  Remove from heat. 

Immediately add sugar, cocoa, water, vanilla, and salt.  Stir to blend. Let cool for about five minutes.  Add eggs to hot mixture one at a time, stirring vigorously after each addition.  When the mixture is thick and shiny, add flour and stir until it is blended, about 60 strokes.  Fold in nuts. 

Cook for 25 minutes.  The knife will be messy when you pull it out- it's OK!  Keep the faith.  These are just OK hot, but on Day 2 they are amazing.  I would guess that they would also be good on Day 3 and 4, but sweets never last that long in my house.