I love brownies, but I find I am in search of a recipe for a very specific type. Most I try are too sweet and too thin. Here’s what I’m looking for - not too sweet, lots of chocolate chunks or chips, no nuts and thick. Anyone have such a recipe to share???
My 2 favorites:
Thomas Keller’s brownies, rich and delicious. Perhaps more cakey than regular brownies.
And for ease and quickness, the supernatural brownie recipe can’t be beat.
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Thanks, Elsieb!
Thomas Keller’s brownies are outstanding, but when I want something simpler I make Robert’s Absolute Best Brownies from David Lebovitz. They are super simple to make, very fudgy and rich and not too sweet. I find 70-75% cacao chocolate gives me the sweetness level I prefer. I usually leave the nuts out or sub chocolate chunks.
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Dating myself here, but love the old Moosewood brownie recipe. 
Low sugar, no nuts, super gooey/moist and my wife’s go to when chocolate calls.
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Since discovering Ghirardelli dark chocolate brownie mix years ago, I haven’t made brownies from scratch. Perhaps because I use virgin coconut oil for the fat, they are very moist, and exactly what I like in a brownie. I don’t make them often, and noticed that the packaging and naming have changed, so I’d have to compare boxes (I still have one) to know what the current version is called. I do recall that this mix was favorably discussed at one time on Chowhound, which has many posts about brownie recipes.
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I use two:
Nick Malgieri’s Supernatural Brownies
And Green & Blacks Chocolate Brownies, which are inexplicably no longer on their website
My husband and I may be the only two people on the planet who can’t stand Ghirardellli chocolate. I couldn’t tell you why, but …
So many recipes that look great - thanks!!!
You and husband are not the only haters. I think it is worse than Hershey’s or godivas. They must have stellar PR.
Do you melt it before mixing it in? I thought that coconut oil is solid when room temperature.
Yes, virgin coconut oil is solid below 78F. I melt it very briefly, so it is no warmer than a nursing bottle, then quickly whisk in the egg. It’s not a problem if the oil clumps a bit because it smoothes out when you stir in the dry ingredients.
You can make the low melting point work for you in other ways. In the fridge, or at cool room temperature, it helps keep cookies and pastry crusts from becoming soggy or sodden. Melted along with chocolate, it makes an instant-hardening shell for ice cream, strawberries, or frozen bananas.
I’m going to use the coconut oil with my ghirardelli brownie mix. Should I melt it before using? The recipe calls for regular liquid oil of some kind.
Basically, yes, but keep in mind that using a fat that solidifies at room temperature will probably change the texture and definitely the “mouthfeel”. I have to say, that’s not a substitution I’d be quick to make (any more than I’d use shortening in place of oil in a brownie - or cake - recipe…)
Agree with @MikeG on this; while I think the flavor would be good in the brownies, I wouldn’t melt and substitute. I did that for a pie crust, and the results were disastrous. The crust was tough. I was adapting an oil crust recipe to use coconut oil. I realize these are two very different things, but it would still give me pause @heidicooksandbakes.
Yes, refer back to grey’s post above yours.
Did you ever try using it in solid form for a pie crust? I know oil pie crust is a Thing, but in that case, I think maybe using it solid - like shortening or lard - might work out better?
I’ve never really gotten “into” coconut oil/fat myself. It’s something that “interests” me- (I’ve bought small-ish jars a couple of times - but except for occasional use in coconut-milk based dishes, it invariably ends up “forgotten” in the back of the fridge or a cabinet…
Yes, @MikeG, in a couple different ways. In my standard pastry recipe, where I freeze the cubes of fat, and then use a food processor to incorporate into the dry ingredients, and the 3rd time, I used it at room temperature, and cut it in with a pastry blender, by hand. The first time, when I melted it, produced the worst and toughest pastry results; the other two times were only marginally better, with none being acceptable to me. I like it for making popcorn (tasty!) and for a few Asian inspired things. Otherwise, it’s not one of my favored fats. One good thing about it however, is that it doesn’t seem to oxidize very fast.
What I love it for is using it on my hands after washing, but before cooking, and as a skin moisturizer. It’s hydrating, and absorbs into the skin rapidly.
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I’ll definitely find other uses for it. Thanks all!
