Get the Recipe: Claire Saffitz Brownie Recipe
Ingredients
For the Brownie Batter
- ¾ cup (3.5 ounces or 99 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 Tablespoons malted milk powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup (0.75 ounces or 21 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted if necessary
- ¼ cup (2 ounces or 57 grams) freshly boiled and still very hot water
- 5 ounces (142 grams) dark chocolate (between 60% to 70% cacao), from whole fèves or a high-quality chocolate bar chopped into ½- and 1-inch pieces
- 6 Tablespoons (¾ stick or 3 ounces or 85 grams) unsalted butter, chopped into 1- to 2-inch pieces
- ¼ cup (2 ounces or 57 grams) canola oil
- ½ cup tightly packed (3.75 ounces or 106 grams) dark brown sugar
- ½ cup (3.5 ounces or 99 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 6 ounces (170 grams) milk chocolate, chopped into 1- to 2-inch pieces
For the Milk Chocolate Topping
- 4 ounces (113 grams) milk chocolate, chopped into 1- to 2-inch pieces
Instructions
- Prep the oven and baking pan. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly spray an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on each of the pan's sides. Spray the parchment paper, too.
- Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, milk powder, and salt.
- Bloom the cocoa powder. In a large heatproof bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and hot water until smooth.
- Melt the dark chocolate, butter, and oil. Add the dark chocolate, butter, and oil to the bowl with the cocoa powder and water. Place the bowl over a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan filled with a few inches of simmering water (be sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water).Cook over medium heat, using a heatproof rubber spatula to stir the mixture and scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally, until the chocolate and butter have melted and combined, about 5 minutes. Remove the bowl from heat, seat on a wire rack, and cool to lukewarm.
- Add the sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Once lukewarm, whisk the sugars into the chocolate mixture. Add the egg, egg yolks, and vanilla and whisk until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients and milk chocolate. Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the batter all at once and use a rubber spatula to mix until combined. Once combined, continue mixing for 1 minute more. Add the milk chocolate and mix until incorporated throughout the batter.
- Assemble the brownies. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and use an offset spatula to smooth the top. Sprinkle the chopped milk chocolate for the topping on top of the batter.
- Bake the brownies. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few crumbs attached.
- Cool the brownies. Cool completely on a wire rack, about 1 hour, then refrigerate until the bottom of the pan feels cold, about 1 hour more.
- Serve and store. Run a butter knife or offset spatula along the edges of the pan and use the overhanging foil as handles to lift the brownies out of the pan and onto a cutting board.Slice into 2-inch squares, garnish with flaky salt, and serve.The brownies can be stored in an airtight container or zip-top bag at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Notes
- Recipe adapted from Claire Saffitz's Dessert Person. Scroll down to see my notes on how I specifically adapted her recipe!
- When prepping the baking pan, use more cooking spray than you think you need to coat the parchment paper. The brownies are VERY fudgy and tend to get stuck on the paper if you don’t use enough spray.
- The brownie batter recipe states that you need 5 ounces (142 grams) of chopped dark chocolate to make the brownie batter. If you don’t have a digital kitchen scale, that’s equivalent to ⅔ cup plus 2 Tablespoons of chopped chocolate. Each piece of chocolate should be roughly the same size and shape of a regular-sized chocolate chip. You’ll also need 10 ounces (284 grams) of milk chocolate to mix-in and top the brownies. That’s equivalent to 1 ⅔ cup of chopped milk chocolate.
- I mention this in my review of the recipe below, but I added more milk chocolate to Claire’s original recipe. Specifically, I added a chopped milk chocolate topping. If you want a less sweet brownie, feel free to skip the milk chocolate topping!
- The recipe instructs you to cook chocolate, butter, and oil together until melted. Once done, this mixture will look a little grainy (almost like split ganache). Don’t panic! Just continue following the recipe and whisk in the sugars, eggs, and remaining ingredients. Once you start whisking in the eggs, the batter will smoothen out and start to combine.
- It’s better to pull the brownies out of the oven early than leave them in too long—if you over bake the brownies, they’ll be tough. They might appear underbaked, but I promise that when they’ve cooled, they will be perfect.
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