These deep, dark and devilish Espresso Brownies are exactly the thing you need on your Super Bowl table, or your kitchen table, or your nightstand by your bed when everything has gone awry. Basically these guys are rich, sooooo chocolate-y, are chewy but cake-like and have a definite hit of Espresso flavor. All good things, right?

You can NOT go wrong making or eating these. Ever.

And you can be damn sure these are not Blondies. I am not confused. Not one iota. Not that I have anything at all against blondies, infact I make a heck of an addictive peanut butter blondie from Dorie Greenspan and you can be sure SHE is NOT confused at what a blondie is. No siree (sir-y? whatever).

But apparently Cooking Light was very confused. Seriously? What’s there to be confused about? A blondie has NO CHOCOLATE. And when I was three-fourths of the way through making Espresso “Brownies”, and kept patiently waiting to add the chocolate, I became shocked and horrified to find out these brownies had NO Chocolate! WTF?

Again, no prejudice against blondies, but I was in the mood for a brownie. I have been pretty seriously dieting and eating much healthier lately and if I was going to fall off the wagon, I was going to go whole hog—-translation—I was absolutely going to eat chocolate. Because I am the biggest chocoholic that I know of, and I was definitely in chocolate withdrawal.

So, luckily, I was more than ready to change things up, make these into real, culinarily accurate brownies and added some bittersweet baking chocolate AND some Sharffenberger cocoa powder and voila presto, we had brownies and they were everything I had been dreaming of. Sitting down with a big, icy glass of milk and this crazy rich and chocolate-y brownie definitely hit this dieter’s sweet spot.

At the end of this whole brownie debacle, I seriously considered writing a nasty letter to CL Magazine. It would have gone something like this, “Dear Cooking Light Editor, I demand a retraction of your Espresso Brownie recipe from your March 1995 issue. When in the middle of making the Espresso “Brownies”, I was horrified to find out that the recipe did not call for any CHOCOLATE in the batter! Please consult the culinary definition of a brownie and a blondie and correct the misconception in all future issues so as to save your readers any similar trauma.  Thank you. Sincerely, CL Mag Hoarder.”

After giving it some thought, I decided not to send the letter and recalled a favorite book of mine, “Letters from a Nut”. If you don’t have it and are a Seinfeld lover, I highly recommend getting it. Anyhow, hope you enjoy my version of these Espresso Brownies and have a great time watching the Big Game!

—PS…I would suggest making a double batch for a crowd. A single batch just would never suffice.

Espresso Brownies

Originally from Cooking Light March 1995 Issue but Made Culinarily Accurate and Chocolate-y by Geni
Makes one dozen brownies
1 1/4 c. firmly packed dark brown sugar (light is ok too if you don’t have dark)
1/2 c. unsalted butter
2 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (two squares or weigh chocolate chips)
1 1/2 T. instant espresso granules
1 T. vanilla extract
2 egg whites
1 egg
1 3/4 c. all purpose flour
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 t. baking powder
3/4 t. salt
1/2 c. chocolate chips
optional: 1/2 c. chopped walnuts

To make the brownies: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Using nonstick cooking spray, spray-coat well an 8×8 square baking pan.  Cut your stick of butter in thirds and chop your two squares of baking chocolate into chunks. In a medium-sized pot over medimum heat, melt your butter, brown sugar and chocolate, stirring until all is incorporated and melted. Add espresso granules and vanilla extract. Stir together. Set aside and let cool.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour through salt. Separate your egg whites and if the melted chocolate mixture is just “luke warm”, add one egg at a time to your melted chocolate mixture, beating vigorously so as not to scramble your eggs. If your chocolate is still hot, then you need to temper your eggs. This is done by putting all of your eggs into a small bowl, beat them together, and then add about 1/4 c. of the chocolate mixture to the eggs, quickly beating in the chocolate. Add another 1/4 c of the chocolate mixture to the eggs, beating again. This is slowly bringing up the temperature of your eggs so that they don’t scramble into the chocolate mixture.  Now you can add the egg mixture to the pot and mix together.

Once all of your eggs have been incorporated into the chocolate, pour 1/2 of the chcolate mixture into the flour mixture and stir together. Repeat and add your chocolate chips and optional walnuts. Bake for 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool before cutting.