Brownie help - please

[Janet H]

I need to make a mess of brownies and most recipes I find are for unsweetened chocolate.

I have 2 lbs of semi-sweet bakers chocolate. Does anyone have any idea about reducing the sugar in a standard brownie recipe and adjusting the moisture level?

 

[merstar]

Janet,
Do you have Alice Medrich's "Bittersweet?" She explains how to adjust the various types of chocolate, ie, cacao percentages, along with fat and sugar adjustments.

Ghirardelli's Classic Chocolate Brownies use semi-sweet chocolate, and they're delicious. (I baked them about 23 minutes, or until a tester came out with a few moist crumbs attached).
Here's the link to their site, plus a link to food.com which includes ratings and reviews:
Ghirardelli - Premium Chocolate and Chocolate Gifts
Ghirardelli Classic Brownies Recipe - Food.com - 35810

 

[kimmo]

Hi Janet - the recipe I have used for years and is quite superb just calls for dark chocolate - it really is a great recipe. Here it is in case you are interested in trying:
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
1 cup chopped nuts of your choice
250g dark chocolate
250g butter
2 tsp vanilla essence
4 eggs lightly beaten
Sift flour and cocoa, add sugar and nuts. Mix
Add chopped chocolate to the mixture
Melt butter and add to dry ingredients, along with vanilla and eggs
Mix well, pout into prepared tin (8 x 12inch) and bake for 50 mins at 180 degrees centigrade
Refrigerate for 2 hours before cutting.

 

[Janet H]

I read the recipes and scratched my head some then made the most awesome brownies. I combined the best part of several recipes. Here's what I made:


Absolutely Awesome Brownies!

Yield: 16 brownies
Oven: 350 F

Ingredients:

6 squares of semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
2/3 Cup packed dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 drops of almond extract
2 large eggs
1 Cup all purpose flour
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 C walnuts, chopped​

Prep:

1. Butter and line an 8 or 9 inch square baking pan (use waxed paper or parchment).

2. Melt chocolate bars and butter in double boiler or microwave, stirring till smooth and then cool to room temp.

3. Stir the brown sugar and vanilla into the chocolate mixture. Add the eggs and mix well.

4. Measure flour baking powder and salt onto a piece of waxed paper. Slowly fold the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture, mixing well until blended. Stir in the nuts and pour the batter into the prepared pan.

5. Bake for 22 - 25 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.​

While you're waiting for them to cool enough to cut, you can clean the SINGLE bowl you got dirty, ice down the milk and figure out which trashy movie to watch.