lazy susan | february

this month our Lazy Susan is sharing the dishes we love most in honor of the love filled month of February. there is nothing i love more in this culinary world more than CHOCOLATE. ive been known to even go so far as to eat chocolate with the flu and break in song when i find Trader Joe’s has restocked its Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Bar. i cant be stopped.

i uncovered this recipe from the famed Baked bakery in Brooklyn through Pinterest and made them for my brownie lovin’ husband for his birthday in December (maybe a few more times than that). even though they require more work than your average boxed brownie mix, they are world’s better and indeed worth it. Oprah claims them as her favorite and America’s Test Kitchen is right along with her. with those credentials, you can see why i gave it a go.

oh, and word to the wise: even if you’re a chocolate eating pro like me, don’t try and be cute and eat more than one of these at a time. these are not elementary school bake sale brownies. these are real deal big girl RICH brownies and you’ll be sorry you didn’t heed my warning. not speaking from experience or anything; a friend of a friend told me but lets not get into that.

The Baked Brownie via Brown Eyed Baker

1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder
11 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
5 eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the sides and bottom of a 9×13-inch glass or light-colored baking pan. Line the pan with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and cocoa powder together.
Put the chocolate, butter and instant espresso powder in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water and add the sugars. Whisk until completely combined, then remove the bowl from the pan. The mixture should be room temperature.