The Baked Brownie

If I had only enough breath left in me to share one more recipe, this would be it. 

[pause for dramatic effect]

Seriously.  Have you ever been to Baked?  I haven't.  They're in Brooklyn, NY and Charleston, SC.  They have two cookbooks.  I want to share with you their brownie recipe.  Incidentally, it's very famous and even Oprah claims it to be her favorite brownie.  And if she says something is her favorite, it's practically Biblical. 

I consider myself to be a pretty good baker.  I make everything from scratch and can usually pull off even the most complicated of desserts.  However, my brownies always turn out like crap.  Brownies were my kryptonite, the one recipe that would leave me scratching my head asking, "What did I do wrong?"  Well, not anymore sister. 

I'm begging you to make these.  I promise you'll be so glad you did and you'll forget all about those Ghirardelli boxed mixes.  You may be wondering if this particular recipe is better than the one you use.  Let me put it this way: If world peace is to be achieved, it will be through this brownie.  Chewy, dense, fudgey...everything a brownie is supposed to be.  So get in your kitchen and crank these out!

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp dark unsweetened cocoa powder
11 ounces of dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup [8 oz.] unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 tsp instant espresso powder
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
5 eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350.  Lightly butter/oil the sides and bottom of a 9x13 glass or lightly colored baking pan.  Line with parchment paper if you want.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and cocoa. 
Put the chocolate, butter, and espresso powder in a large bowl and set it over a saucepot with about an inch of simmering water in the bottom [a double boiler].  Stir occasionally until everything is nice and smooth.  Turn off the heat but keeping the bowl over the pot, stir in the sugars.  When completely combined, you can remove the bowl from the saucepan. 
*At this point, I transferred this mixture to a larger mixing bowl because you're going to be adding everything else to this mixture.
Next, whisk in 3 of the 5 eggs.  Then add the remaining eggs and the vanilla and mix until just combined.  Be very careful not to overmix or your fudgey brownies will become cakey.
Sprinkle the flour mixture over the top and fold in with a rubber spatula until you can only see just a little bit of flour.
Spread the mixture into your pan [if you can keep from eating it all] and smooth the top.  Bake in the center of your oven for 30 minutes.  Let them cool completely before cutting.  If you line your baking pan with parchment overlapping the sides, you can use this to pull the brownies out before slicing. 
You can store these in an airtight container for up to 3 days...if they last that long.