Scharffen Berger (one bowl) brownies

There are lots of brownie recipes out there.  Much like with chocolate chip cookies, or, for that matter, most popular desserts.  One might call for a little more/less butter, chocolate, or flour and, oftentimes, the differences can be quite minute.  I want to stay faithful to a good recipe (and I certainly have my favorites) but I like to try something new in hopes of stumbling upon a great combination.

I've mentioned before that I've yet to meet a brownie that I didn't like.  We can count these Scharffen Berger brownies among the list.  The recipe is from the late Robert Steinberg, of the American chocolate company Scharffen Berger (now owned by Hershey).  It's a simple, one-bowl recipe, that just requires a little muscle power because you must mix the batter rather vigorously by hand (but it only takes about a minute). 

Normally, I don't think you need to use your best chocolates to make brownies (though it never hurts) but in this case, I thought it appropriate to use Scharffen Berger.  I realize that you really can taste the difference in the end result.  I'm not totally convinced it's necessary for everyday, particularly if you intend to down your brownie in ice cream and chocolate sauce, for example, but you really do taste what you put in.  That's particularly the case here because this recipe is heavy on the chocolate, lighter on the butter and other accompaniments.

The fun part of making this particular batch of brownies were the little helpers I had in the kitchen with me: my 5-year old niece and my little guy!  We'd just gotten home after a five-day road trip together and the next morning, I thought it would be fun to try this simple recipe together and have a little project in the kitchen.  My little niece was an enthusiastic and excellent helper!  She wanted to do each part, watch everything, and would wait patiently for instruction.  And ironically, she does not even like chocolate (sigh...) and most sweets in general.  My little guy was more interested in playing that particularly morning but he also helped and is my very reliable taste-tester.

These brownies came out fudgy in the center and deep in chocolate flavor.  Texturally, I prefer the brownies from Baked, which are just sinfully moist, but these have a more pronounced chocolate flavor.  Next time around, I'd use a smaller, 8-inch, rather than 9-inch, baking pan.  Partly since I didn't use nuts, these brownies were thinner than I like.  Better yet, I'd use some toasted nuts next time (despite the little guy's likely protest) since I think some crunchy nuts would be a great balance against the dark chocolate flavor of these brownies.