Nothing puts a smile on my husband’s face faster than these words, “I’m going to bake something today.” He loves it when I bake – anything. He has no problem being my guinea pig when it comes to trying out new recipes.
When I found a brownie recipe that I loved, I wanted to “doctor” it up a bit and experiment with different flavors. The result of that doctoring is what my husband calls $5 brownies. He calls them that because he believes that I could sell them for $5 each.
These are rich, fudgy, decadent brownies with just a hint of coffee flavor thanks to the addition of Kahlua liquor. The recipe makes an entire sheet pan of these yummy squares, so be prepared to share them with your friends, neighbors, and anyone else who is close enough to your house to smell them when they are cooking.
If you are someone who likes the idea of opening a box, adding some water, oil, and an egg and voila, you have brownies, then this is not the recipe for you.
If you are someone who loves rich, fudgy, decadent brownies and doesn’t mind the time it takes to melt chocolate (a lot of it), measure and mix everything from scratch and then wait patiently while they cool and get chilled. This is for you.
They are worth the effort and wait, I promise you. The only problem you may have is keeping your fingers out of the batter and waiting for them to be ready to eat.
I always use the best ingredients I can afford, and I recommend you don’t skimp on the quality of your ingredients as it will affect the taste and texture of the final product.
$5 Brownies
- 1 pound unsalted butter
- 1 pound plus 12 ounces Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate chips
- 6 ounces Ghirardelli unsweetened chocolate
- 6 extra-large eggs
- 3 tablespoons Kahlua liquor
- 2 tablespoons pure Madagascar vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups sugar
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups chopped walnuts
- Preheat Oven to 350 degrees
Butter and dust a 12 x 18 x 1-inch baking sheet with cocoa powder
Melt together the butter, 1 pound of chocolate chips, and the unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl over simmering water. Make sure you check it to ensure it does not burn and then cool slightly. In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) the eggs, Kahlua, vanilla, and sugar. Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow it to cool to room temperature.
In a medium bowl, sift together 1 cup of flour, the baking powder, and salt. Add to the cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips in a medium bowl with 1/4 cup of flour, then add them to the chocolate batter. Pour into the baking sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes, then rap the baking sheet against the oven shelf to force the air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Bake for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake! Allow to cool thoroughly, refrigerate, and cut into 20 large squares.
This recipe was adapted from Ina Garden’s Outrageous Brownie Recipe.
