The use of Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa produced a truly dark brownie with a soft, cake-y texture that had a touch of chew to it. Compared to the smudge of nutella on the plate (above), it’s easy to see just how dark. Loaded with bittersweet chocolate flavor and extremely buttery from the use of Irish butter, only a small wedge is needed to satisfy a chocolate craving. The batter had a great fluffiness that led to a tender buttery crumb. But, the butter flavor was a bit overwhelming for my taste. I’ll be working on a fix for that.
Special Dark Cocoa Brownies
adapted from Alton Brown’s Cocoa Brownie
8 ounces unsalted Irish Butter, melted
4 large eggs
2 cup super-fine sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt, finely ground
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa, sifted
1/2 cup flour, sifted
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F
Butter an 8-inch square pan. Melt butter. Add sugar, salt and vanilla. Cream well. Beat in the eggs.
Combine flour and cocoa. Stir vigorously with a fork. Add dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture. Roughly fold the flour and cocoa into the butter/sugar mixture until it’s just barely combined. Pour the batter into buttered 8-inch square pan and bake for 50-55 minutes. Check with toothpick test at the 45-50 minute mark.
Note the delicate flake to the crust. (One of my favorite brownie traits.)
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