The wall, indeed. About 20 miles into a nice bike ride this morning, I was climbing a rather steep, lengthy hill. I was almost to the top when a guy lying in a hammock on his porch drinking a beer at 10:00 a.m. said, "Yep, them bicycle fellas, they call that the wall." (Mind you, I am not judging, because a beer sounded really good about then.)
All I could manage was an unintelligible grunt in response, so as not to completely embarrass myself by having to walk my bike up the hill. I think the fact that there was a witness helped. I don't usually see many female cyclists out, so I felt like I had to conquer that hill in a dignified, if loud, manner. I made it over the wall by singing Kasey Chambers' "Freight Train" in my head, and thinking about rewarding myself with these brownies when I made it home. (Have to "refuel" of course!)
One reason I love to ride is this peaceful view near Sugarloaf Mountain in Maryland (well before "the wall"):
This recipe is modified from a recipe called Edge Lover's Chewy Edge Brownies that came with my Baker's Edge pan, a gift from my husband. (Did I mention that he really likes brownies?) The recipe is in a section called "Chef Emily's Recipes." No idea who you are, but I love you Chef Emily.
I also love this pan -- it's cast iron coated in a non-stick surface. But you can't put just any brownie recipe or box mix in there, unless you want really flat brownies. As best I can tell, the optimal recipe for this pan, based on its size, is about 1 1/2 times a "normal" recipe. I've tried various recipes in this pan, and this is by far my favorite.
"The Wall" Brownies recipe:
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks) - Never said these were healthy.
- 5 oz. unsweetened chocolate (I like the discs from King Arthur for easy melting)
- 2 1/4 cup sugar (I used half brown and half regular sugar today, which works fine)
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 heaping teaspoon espresso powder, optional (again, I like King Arthur's)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (try Ghirardelli 60% cacao)
- 1/2 cup butterscocth chips (also available from King Arthur - no they do not pay me, they just make really good stuff)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly spray pan with cooking spray.
Place the unsweetened chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pot of lightly simmering water (or use a double boiler). The water should not touch the bottom of the bowl. Stir frequently until chocolate and butter are completely melted and remove bowl from the pot.
Stir in the sugar. Then add the eggs, one at a time, stirring after each addition. Add vanilla extract and stir.
Follow with the flour, salt and espresso powder, mixing just until combined with the chocolate.
Stir in the chocolate and butterscotch chips, and spread the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the brownie comes out with moist crumbs. (If you do not have a Baker's Edge pan, you will probably have to cook this for at least 10 extra minutes to ensure that it gets done in the center. Just test using the toothpick method every 5 minutes or so after the first 35 minutes.)
Enjoy!
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