Triple Chocolate (Mint) Brownies from America's Test Kitchen
I love recipes from America’s Test Kitchen. You know what I love the most? That they do all the work for you. They pick a recipe, research the heck out of it, find what works best (and what doesn’t) and then explain it all in easy to understand instructions. When you make an ATK recipe, you know it’s going to work out every single time. This weekend, I tried the Chewy, Fudgy Triple-Chocolate Brownies from their Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Cookbook. What a book! It contains all of the recipes featured on their show from 2001 to 2011. It’s a 10-year anniversary gift to ATK lovers everywhere. Don’t have it yet? Well, you should. It’s a keeper.
Of course, you know me. I can’t make anything exactly as written. It’s my unspoken rule, except that I speak openly about it. My tweak – I added a bag of Andes Chocolate-Mint baking pieces. The colorful green striped variety. And I make no apologies for it. Sometimes a girl needs mint in her chocolate.
Here’s how it’s done:
5 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 stick (8 ounces) butter, unsalted
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
3 large eggs
1 1/4 cups (8.25 ounces) sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 cup (5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 bag of Andes Mint baking pieces (my addition)
Adjust your oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat to 350F. Line an 8″ square baking pan with foil (sling-style so they’re easy to lift out) and spray lightly with PAM or other non-stick spray.
In a heatproof bowl, place chopped chocolate and butter into a double boiler or in the microwave in 1 minute intervals until melted and smooth. Whisk to remove any lumps. Whisk in the cocoa powder and beat to combine. Set aside to cool slightly.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt until combined, about 15 seconds. Whisk the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, gently stir in the flour (and mint baking pieces) until just combined. Pour into the prepared pan and shake gently to distribute, or use a spatula to spread the batter evenly out to the corners.
Bake until slightly puffed and a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Baking time will be approximately 35-40 minutes, depending on your oven. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack to room temperature (about 2 hours). Lift the brownies from the pan using the foil sling. Cut into 1″ squares and serve. NOTE: these are really dense and very rich; 1″ squares is a really good size for these!
Remaining brownies can be stored in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 5 days OR you could chop some of them into 1/4″ to 1/2″ chunks and do what we did – make Chocolate Mint Brownie Chunk Ice Cream. No, I’m not kidding. I’ll prove it:
TCP's Chocolate Mint Brownie Chunk Ice Cream
The Complete Package is the master of ice cream in our house. Christine, our evil but effective Cuisinart ice cream maker, is his baby. He plays her like an instrument. Using his favorite knock-off recipe for Ben & Jerry’s sweet cream ice cream base, he added mint extract and a few drops of green food color to make this pastel peppermint concoction. And it was good. Really, really good.
So, there you have it. Yet another America’s Test Kitchen recipe that came out exactly as advertised. Tweaked into a minty pair of lovely treats by yours truly, because I just can’t seem to stop myself. And I’m okay with that.
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