Chewy Chocolate Chip Brownies

I knew I wanted to bake something today, but I wasn't sure what that should be.  This morning I poured over several cookbooks and some food blogs, and I decided it was as good a time as any to continue on my quest to find the perfect brownie.  I am one of those people who prefer the fudgy brownie to the cakey brownie.  I have to say, this one is pretty darn good.  The recipe calls for browned butter, but I really couldn't taste the nutty flavor imparted by browning in the final product.  I think if you wanted to cut down on prep time you could definitely make these with plain old melted butter.  The final product is chocolatey, chewy, and worth every single calorie.

CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP BROWNIES
Adapted from Cookie and Kate

INGREDIENTS

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch chunks
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
2 cold large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F with a rack in the lower third of the oven. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with two criss-crossed pieces of parchment paper, making sure that the paper is long enough to go up the sides a couple of inches. Alternatively, line the pan with Reynolds pan-lining paper.

2. Brown the butter: Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter, while whisking constantly, until it’s a pale golden brown and the particles suspended in it are reddish brown. This usually takes about 10 minutes.  Be careful not to burn the butter!

3. Remove the pan from heat and stir in the sugar, cocoa powder, sea salt, baking powder and espresso powder. Let the mixture cool for 5 minutes.

4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating vigorously with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula after each one. When the mixture looks thick, shiny and well blended, add the vanilla extract and the flour. Stir until you no longer see streaks of flour. Then beat vigorously for 50 strokes with the wooden spoon or spatula.

5. At this point, the mixture should be no more than slightly warm (if not, let it cool for a few more minutes). Fold in the chocolate chunks or chips - if the batter is too warm you will melt your chips and that would be sad.

6. Spread the batter evenly in the lined pan. Bake on the lower rack for about 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool the brownies in the pan on a baking rack.

7. Once the brownies are completely cool, lift the edges of the parchment paper and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Use a sharp chef's knife to cut the brownies into 16 or 25 squares.