Better-Than-Brad-Pitt Brownies

I found this recipe when I got this magazine in February or March of 2006. I marked several recipes that I wanted to try, but I ended up only trying this one. It was very good (super thick and fudgy), but a bit expensive compared to other brownie recipes so it kinda got lost in my boxes of cookbooks and magazines. I recently re-found it and decided to make it to take to Thanksgiving dinner at my parents'.
Everyone's family has their traditional, must-have dessert. In our family, it is my mom's chocolate chip pecan pie. She or my sister Sheri always make the pies that everyone looks forward to all year, along with pumpkin and cherry cream pie. So when I was asked to bring a dessert, I figured people wouldn't be very interested in anything besides the pie and I didn't take much of these. But they all disappeared somehow and it left Sabrina asking for more. (Lucky for her we had the rest at home.) Some people heard the name of these brownies when I first brought them in, but other people didn't hear me talk about them. A couple of people thought it was fudge while eating it. Yes, it is that fudgy. It is not your normal brownie. Cut the pieces small since they are so rich. As you can see, I didn't make them with walnuts this time due to people's allergies, but I had it with them the first time and I loved it.


My kids don't know who Brad Pitt is so they think we should change the name, but didn't give me an alternative. This is a recipe from Polka Dot Cake Studio, which used to have a New York storefront bakery, but closed that to dedicate their efforts to specialty cake orders. Sad for New Yorkers, I'm sure.

Chilling the brownies for the full time is very important. The first time I made these, I tried a tiny square right out of the oven. It wasn't great and I was disappointed. But after chilling, I tried it again and it was like a different dessert.
Better-Than-Brad-Pitt Brownies

14 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/4 c. non-alkalized cocoa
1 1/2 c. butter, softened
3 c. granulated sugar
1 t. salt
6 eggs, at room temperature
2 c. flour, sifted
1 3/4 c. (10 oz.) semisweet chocolate morsels
2 c. walnuts

Glaze:
4 oz. semisweet chocolate
4 T. unsalted butter
1/2 T. light corn syrup

Preheat oven to 300º. Butter a 9x13-inch pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine unsweetened chocolate and cocoa powder. Place bowl over pot filled one-third of way with barely simmering water and heat, stirring frequently, until melted and smooth. Set aside to cool.

In the bowl of electric mixer, using paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar and salt together at high speed until well blended and light, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. At low speed, add flour in three additions, mixing just until blended. Add melted chocolate, chocolate morsels and walnuts and mix until blended.

Scrape batter into pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until top is set but still soft and edges are just beginning to pull away from sides of pan (a toothpick will still come out gooey at this point). Cool completely in pan set on wire rack.

Cover pan and refrigerate brownies 6 hours or overnight before glazing.

To glaze brownies Combine all ingredients in medium bowl and place bowl over pot filled one-third of way with barely simmering water. Heat, stirring frequently, until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Invert brownies and remove pan. Peel off parchment paper and reinvert brownies so they are right-side up. Pour glaze over brownies and, using offset metal spatula, spread it evenly over top. Refrigerate brownies for 10 minutes (but not longer or glaze will harden and be difficult to cut).


Doesn't that look like a slab of fudge at a confectioners?