Fudge Brownies: Weekend Bake - Superbowl Sunday + Valentines excuse

You can search all your life for true love. The search ends here. And the best part? You can all share and enjoy this one love together. Not for the faint of heart, but for the hard-core brownie lover.

Fudge Brownies

Makes 12 large (or 24 mini) brownies

• ¾ cup butter, cold, cubed

• 175 g/6 oz unsweetened chocolate

• 4 eggs

• 2 cups white sugar

• 1 Tbsp espresso powder or finely ground coffee

• 2½ tsp pure vanilla extract

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• ½ tsp salt

• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9- × 13-inch pan and dust it with flour.

In a medium, heavy-bottomed pot over low heat, melt the butter and chocolate, stirring together. Once melted, set aside so it starts to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, coffee, and vanilla. Stir in the slightly cooled chocolate mixture. Fold in the flour and salt. Stir in the chocolate chips. Evenly spread the mixture into the prepared pan, smoothing out the top, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until set.

 Let cool in the pan on a cooling rack before cutting into 12 or 24 brownies. Enjoy or store wrapped in aluminum foil for a day or two.

Cook’s Note: Pastry chefs would have us melting chocolate in a bowl set over simmering water, ensuring no water touches the chocolate (see Kate’s Dates for example). But the fat in the butter means the chocolate won’t seize so long as you melt them together over low heat and don’t let water in the pan. You could increase the chocolate chip amount from 1 cup to 1⅓ cups, or even add the whole bag—no one will complain.