French Chocolate Brownies
*Note to self: Let brownies cool before taking pictures, they would look less messy!
Wow. Just wow. With all due respect to Ina’s Outrageous Brownies, these French Chocolate Brownies have trumped and become my all-time favorite brownie recipe. Many thanks to Di of Di’s Kitchen Notebook for choosing this week’s recipe – what a fantastic job you did!!
These brownies were created in a pretty non-traditional way in terms of brownies. The eggs and sugar were whisked together in the stand mixer, and then the dry ingredients were added, followed by the melted chocolate/butter combination. In truth, Dorie states that when she created these she was aiming for a chocolate cake, not brownies. But wow, did she nail the brownies! These are dense, moist, insanely chocolatey, and just about everything you could want from a brownie. I couldn’t stop eating pieces off of them each time I walked into the kitchen!
This recipe says it yields 16 brownies, and after cutting these into 16 pieces I’m convinced that Laurie was right – these are French-size brownies, not America’s super-sized variety that we’re used to ;-)
Recipe and some process photos after the break…
French Chocolate Brownies
Ingredients
- ½ cup (62.5 g) all-purpose flour
- ⅛ teaspoon (0.13 teaspoon) salt
- 6 ounces (170.1 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 1 ½ sticks (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into 12 pieces, (12 tablespoons; 6 ounces)
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) sugar
Instructions
- Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 300°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, butter the foil, place the pan on a baking sheet, and set aside.
- Whisk together the flour and salt.
- Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Slowly and gently melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the butter, stirring so that it melts. It's important that the chocolate and butter not get very hot. However, if the butter is not melting, you can put the bowl back over the still-hot water for a minute. If you've got a couple of little bits of unmelted butter, leave them-it's better to have a few bits than to overheat the whole. Set the chocolate aside for the moment.
- Working with a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until they are thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Lower the mixer speed and pour in the chocolate-butter, mixing only until it is incorporated-you'll have a thick, creamy batter. Add the dry ingredients and mix at low speed for about 30 seconds-the dry ingredients won't be completely incorporated and that's fine. Finish folding in the dry ingredients by hand with a rubber spatula. (This batter was almost like a mousse when it was done being mixed, and very light in color)
- Scrape the batter into the pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top is dry and crackled and a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and allow the brownies to cool to warm or room temperature.
- (These brownies ended up with a thin crispy layer on top and rose significantly during baking and then subsequently caved in after cooling slightly!)
- Carefully lift the brownies out of the pan, using the foil edges as handles, and transfer to a cutting board. With a long-bladed knife, cut the brownies into 16 squares, each roughly 2 inches on a side, taking care not to cut through the foil.
- Serving: The brownies are good just warm or at room temperature; they're even fine cold. I like these with a little something on top or alongside-good go-alongs are whipped crème fraiche or whipped cream, ice cream or chocolate sauce or even all three!
- Storing: Wrapped well, these can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Hi Michelle,
Thank you for sharing this deliciously rich brownie recipe. I’ve tried many others but this is my favorite. And so easy to prepare. The only thing I recommend changing is the bake time. I bake it for 25 minutes in a convection oven. I also added 1/2 cup chopped walnuts . …. perfection.
Happy baking.
Why are they French brownies? What sets them apart from regular brownies?
Hi Emma, This recipe is from Dorie Greenspan, and she talks about the background of the recipe here: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2007/08/baking-with-dorie-les-brownies-from-america-t.html.
can i use these in a french cooking comp like are they even french bruh???
Hi Michelle,
I’m interested in making this recipe in 1/2 sheet cake pan for a holiday party. How many batches do I need to make of this recipe to accomplish this? Thanks! Love your site!!! -Valerie
Hi Valerie, I would do 1.5 – an 8-inch square pan holds 8 cups, while a 12.5×17.5-inch pan (just slightly smaller than a 13×18 half sheet pan) holds 12 cups.
I’ve actually made these before and loved them but wanted a little reassurance before I tried this. Could this recipe be used for caramel brownies? I have a good caramel sauce recipe and wanted to know if I would have any baking issues if I just put half the batter in, then the sauce, rest of the batter and baked as usual. Should I swirl the sauce in in or just keep the layers of brownie and sauce separate?
Hi Jasmine, I’ve never used this recipe to make caramel brownies, so I couldn’t say for sure how they would turn out. I do have a favorite recipe that layers brownie batter and caramel sauce, though! https://www.browneyedbaker.com/sweet-and-salty-brownies/
Thank you for you so much for you response I think Ill give those a try since it’s obvious they already work.
Made these last week and followed your recipe exactly (although with ounces instead of cups as I am English!) and my mix was much darker than yours and not as stiff? Still amazingly delicious though and lovely warm with cream as a dessert.
This is very confusing!
if you don’t use the raisins, what do you do with the water and rum??
In the middle of making these, very frustrating.
Julie
Hi Julie, My apologies, those should be omitted. I’ve edited the recipe to reflect that.
You mentioned raisins in the directions but I didn’t see it listed in the ingredients list. How much raisins do you use?
⅓ of a cup.
You say to heat raisins but don’t even tell how much…I READ recipes.Can you email the amount please? Thank you.
Michelle, It’s ⅓ of a cup, which I have corrected above. An honest mistake, which everyone makes.
I would love to make these brownies, but I’ve read this recipe several times–it mentions raisins and cinnamon, but there’s no amount given for how much of either. Am I going blind?
Hi PJ, I noted in the post that I omitted them from the recipe.
I made these and followed the recipe, but the colour of the batter was much darker, and not like the texture of mousse at all. It did not rise and then cave like shown here, and the top cracked just a little bit. I don’t have a mixer, I used a hand blender, is that maybe why? They turned out ok, but too cakey for me.
Hi! I only have chocolate compound dark droplets.Can i use this to substitutes the 6oz bittersweet chocolate ? Thanks!
Hi Tracey, I assume what you are talking about is something like chocolate chips or disks? If so, that’s perfectly fine.
Okay to melt chocolate and butter in microwave at #5 power?
Yes, you could do that, but make sure you do so in 30-second increments, stirring after each.
itx nt difficult………….. hmmmm!!!
I’m writing this comment as my brownies are cooling seductively in my kitchen. This will be my go-to recipe for brownies, as I generally don’t like the typical, heavy, dense, OTT American brownies. I did add some sea salt to the top of my brownie before baking, and after a sneak of the crust – delish. Thanks so much for the recipe. I also omitted the raisin step, and loved the result. :)
These look delicious!
I only ever seem to have disasters in the kitchen, however I attempted this recipe and I can safely say it was a definite success!! I live in France and after some of the comment was surprised about how many Brownies I managed to make – definitely more than I was expecting! I took them out after 45 minutes and have a nice crispy top and slightly gooey bottom – perfection! Excellent recipe, thank you!
These were amazing….ooey, gooey, fudgy, and perfect! My husband told me I can no make no other! Thanks for the recipe! Dorie never fails!!
Hmm… I made these. They were a nice treat, but definitely not what I expected, because somewhere in the back of my mind I was craving the thick, fudgy, chewy brownies that I enjoy so much. These French beauties had the consistency of a light moussey cake with a moist, delicate center. They can still make for a fabulous dessert – just don’t expect your regular brownies. And definitely don’t try to bake them until the inserted toothpick comes out completely clean, because the brownies might be too dry – I think it’s what happened to ours. Bake them until the blade of the knife comes out mostly clean, maybe with some wet crumbs clinging at the bottom, and it should be all right.
‘Kay! Thanks so much!
Wow! Looks sooooo good! :) Do you have anything I can replace the rum with? And I’m not a big fan of raisins…..will it matter if I take it out?
Hi Esther, I have actually made this a bunch of times omitting both the rum and the raisins. It’s still amazingly delicious!
Hi
You know how in some recipes you say don’t overmix?
How do I know when I’ve overmixed?
Thanks
Hi Julie, There is no hard and fast rule to know that you’ve overmixed, but basically you want to use a gently folding motion with a spatula and just go until the flour disappears, nothing more.
Made these tonight and topped them with the salty caramel sauce. So moist and tasty it makes me angry. :D Glad I took your advice about the foil. These things would have been a nightmare and a half to get out of even the best greased pan, though I had no problems of foil sticking to them. The only thing I did diffrently is omit the rasins sine I’m not a fan of them. I just added the rum in as I added in the chocolate and butter mixture.
This is going in recipe box the next time I get a “must have chocolate” attack.
I love the way your brownies look. I’ll definitely make these again, also.
great job! your brownies look so moist and fudgy!
i’ve seen such a variety of crusts…some paper thin like regular brownies and some really thick like mine…yours looks in between kinda :)
Yum! Your brownies look freakin’ amazing and that’s saying a lot since I wasn’t a fan of them. I’m glad you liked them!
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I don’t know… you fresh from the oven brownies darn near have me drooling on my keyboard. Great job!
Mine also had a mousse like texture. I am glad to know someone else’s turned out that way. I know I whipped the eggs too much, but I like it the way it turned out, so I will probably whipp them again the same amount of time.
They look fudgey and delicious!
Shari@Whisk: a food blog
HAHA! Thats hilarious about “french size brownies”! I was thinking the same thing when I was trying to cut 16 when there was clearly only 9! Great job! :)
Clara @ I♥food4thought
Your brownies look fabulous! So fudgy.
I must be fully European-ized, cause I cut my pan into even smaller pieces! LOL! ;-)
Wow, chelle these look awesome! I thought they were delicious too!
Job well done, they look great!
I never thought I’d have a go-to recipe for brownies, but I think this is it.
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WOW! And trumping Ina’s brownies is huge! I agree!!
omg chelle these look awesome. brownies are easily one of my favorite desserts and i love trying new recipes. i need to try this one!
usually i think dorie’s serving sizes are outrageously big (whole pies & cakes that only serve 6!), but i agree that she was skimpy on the portions for these! yours look really good inside, and the batter–OMG!
Hahaha… I didn’t let my brownies cool before photos either!
Yours still look great though! :)
I keep sampling mine as well. =) If you get a chance, try them with the raisins–they’re surprisingly good. In fact, the one thing I’d change is to add more raisins next time.
Yours look so moist and fudgy! Yum!
Yum your brownies look delicious and fudgey! I patiently waited to cut mine until the next morning (which usually I don’t do) so they wouldn’t be so messy when I cut them.
I am going to have to make up for not trying these! They look great even if they were warm when you cut them.
these were so easy to keep eating the crumbs and fallen pieces off of…i have a little container with just the crumbles…YUM!!! yours look fab!
They look wonderful even though they caved;)
The mousse-y batter is so unique!
Ok, ok, I think you’ve all just about convinced me to give these another go – I’m still a bit too traumatized yet, but I’ll get there for sure. Your brownies look awesome!
i must agree with you. this is a reallie good recipe! in fact it could be top on my list as well!
Good job on the brownies!
Good to hear that you liked them so much, I did too. Love your batter photographs.
They look great Chelle!
These look absolutely amazing! I would love to dive into one right about now (topped with ice cream perhaps).
Wow, yours really caved in – perfect excuse to load them up with fruit or ice cream! :)
They look delicious!
For me as a European the size was just right ;-)… Your step by step pictures are great and in the first picture the brownies don’t look messy.
Ulrike from Küchenlatein
I’m there with you…Ina’s brownies are hard to resist, but there is something special about this recipe. I think your opening photo looks fantastic…not messy at all!!!!
I kept eating pieces every time I walked into the kitchen too. I couldn’t help myself, they were so good!
I wouldn’t change a thing. I like the warm brownie look! So pretty!
You know, I love your messy photo. I like my brownies warm so I expect them to look a little ragged. Everything look so yummy!
Nice that you liked them! Hope you enjoyed your oatmeal too!
Your brownies look wonderful! Every Tuesday morning, I gain 10 lbs just blog hopping! LOL!! I agree, this are awesome!
Wow…. holy fudge! Those do look amazing and I’m always on the look out for brownie recipes. Thanks for sharing!
And that’s why the French are so skinny – I’ll stick with my American sized portions though!