Dark Nutty brownies are the absolutely perfect brownie recipe for a middle of the road between fudgy and caky brownie. I grew up with Duncan Hines brownies from the box. And to be honest, that was my ideal brownie for most of my life. They were so easy to make and always satisfying. For some reason, until a couple of years ago, I never really ventured into making homemade ones as the boxed ones were my go-to brownie. It’s so easy to make and delicious. One day, I was craving brownies after seeing Alton Brown make a brownie on his Good Eats TV show. (Boy, do I miss that show!) It was late, and I didn’t have a box in my kitchen. I decided to whip up a batch from his recipe. It called for 1 ¼ cup of cocoa powder, and I was out, darn it! But, I did have a bunch of this black cocoa powder I had bought with the idea of making homemade Oreos. It turns out that it was a fantastic idea. These turned out dark, thick, rich, and addictive.
These dark nutty brownies are not as fudgy as the Box mixes, nor are they really cake-like. They are really just right in the middle in all the right ways. Not to sound gross, but these brownies are almost meaty. I don’t know how else to describe it. When you take a bite, they are substantial and satisfying. They are now my brownie recipe of choice.
The recipe is straightforward to make, except for one thing: you need to beat the eggs, and I mean really beat them for 5 minutes or so. In reality, that isn’t hard. But to some of you out there, who see that there is a 5-minute step, you immediately think, “OK, that’s an extra step that means effort”…lol. It’s really not a hard thing. It just takes 5 minutes. The point is to whip air into the eggs. There is no other leavening, that makes the brownies rise up to their glory. It is like magic how this one step takes an ordinary brownie to new incredible heights.
The original recipe did not call for nuts. If you follow me at all, you know I am definitely on the nut side of almost anything baking. And if you are going to go for the nuts, then go big. I want chunks of nuts in every bite. This recipe is chock full of nuts. I used walnuts here, but I have used pecans and once macadamia nuts. I bet toasted almonds would be fantastic too. Because of all those crunchy walnuts in the recipe, I had to adjust the pan’s size and cooking time a bit. This recipe has baked perfectly at sea level and here in the high country with no problems. It also makes an excellent base for ice cream sandwiches. A trick I learned to make sandwiches is to slice the brownies into squares and then freeze them. They slice in half easier when frozen. Then on one half place a softened scoop of ice cream, like my popcorn ice cream here. Place the other half on top and mush together. Freeze until firm and wallah! Ice cream sandwich heaven!
If you have never made brownies from scratch, this is a fantastic recipe to start with. Halloween coming up also means these almost black, Dark Nutty Brownies would be perfect for a spooky party, too! Black cocoa is a deeper roasted cocoa powder that imparts a deeper dark chocolate flavor and is used in cookies and other baked goods to impart a darker color such as Oreos. The black cocoa powder can be found here on Amazon. It is a big container, but it lasts a long time and is worth it. I used a great 9″ square pan from USA Pans from Amazon that are perfect for so many things. And it is fantastic quality. My USA pans seem to last forever. As always, please take care of yourselves out there and be safe and think of others.
- Soft butter for greasing the pan.
- Flour for dusting the buttered pan.
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup sugar sifted
- 1 cup brown sugar sifted
- 8 ounces melted butter
- 1 1/4 cups black cocoa powder sifted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup flour sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans
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Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch square pan.
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In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs at medium speed until fluffy and light yellow. This will take several minutes. Or you can use a hand mixer.
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Beat in both sugars for 2 more minutes to dissolve the sugar crystals.
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Add the melted butter, Black cocoa powder, vanilla, flour, and salt. Stir until just combined.
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Stir in the chopped nuts, mixing until combined.
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Pour the batter into the greased and floured 9-inch square pan and bake for 45 minutes. Check for doneness with the tried-and-true toothpick method: a toothpick inserted into the pan's center should come out clean. Depending on your oven, it may take a few minutes more.
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When it's done, remove to a rack to cool. Resist the temptation to cut into it until it's mostly cool.
These work great for Ice cream sandwiches. Slice the brownies into squares or rectangles, freeze the brownies, slice in half with sharp knife, place a scoop of ice cream between and press together.
