Zingerman’s Black Magic Brownies
A couple of weeks ago, a reader, Wendy, asked me on Facebook if I had ever made Zingerman’s Black Magic Brownies. I had to admit that I’d never heard of them! They are apparently one of the most raved about recipes to come out of Zingerman’s, a conglomerate of food stores in the Ann Arbor, Michigan area. Midwest Living magazine has declared this recipe one of the top 20 recipes of all time. High praise, indeed. So far as I can tell, there are two versions of this brownie – Magic Brownies, which include toasted walnuts and Black Magic Brownies, which omit the nuts. While I love walnuts in baked goods like banana bread and date nut spice bread, I don’t really appreciate them in things like brownies or fudge. The Black Magic version was it! Wendy was sweet enough to email me the recipe, and gave me the a-okay to share it with all of you. Thank you, Wendy!
I measure pretty much all brownies against my beloved Baked brownies, and these might be the first to really stack up. They’re very dense, but just a smidge less fudge-like, and just a bit more cake-like (due to the long beating of the eggs and baking powder), although not cakey, if that makes sense. I actually think that these are the perfect compromise between completely fudge-like brownies and cakey brownies. I hate cakey brownies, and while I’ll always eat a fudgy brownie, sometimes it can be too much. The black magic brownies are fantastic middle ground.
The recipe calls for cutting these into 15 squares (which are described as “wallet-size”), and that’s pretty huge. I did this for the photos so you could see the true size, but next time I would probably cut them into my usual 24, which I think makes for a little more reasonably sized brownie.
So, to recap, love, love, love these brownies! They rank a close second, near tie, with the Baked brownies as far as I’m concerned. I think you’re going to love them!
One year ago: Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes
Two years ago: Shrimp Nacho Bites
Three years ago: Zucchini-Pineapple Cupcakes with Orange Sour Cream Frosting
Four years ago: Chewy, Chunky Blondies
Five years ago: Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Squares
Seven years ago: American Apple Pie
Zingerman's Black Magic Brownies
Ingredients
- 13 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 6½ ounces (184.27 g) unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
- ¾ cup (93.75 g) sifted all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (93.75 g) sifted cake flour
- ¾ teaspoon (0.75 teaspoon) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
- 2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1¼ teaspoons (1.25 teaspoons) vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan and line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides; set aside.
- In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and chocolate, stirring constantly, until the mixture is completely melted and smooth. Set aside to cool.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat the sugar and eggs with an electric mixer on high speed for 5 minutes, until lemon-colored and fluffy, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Add cooled chocolate mixture and vanilla. Beat on low speed until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined, then give it a final stir by hand with a rubber spatula. Spread the batter in the prepared pan.
- Bake until brownies appear set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with some moist crumbs attached, about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool completely in the pan set on a wire rack. Cut the brownies into squares and store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. The brownies can also be frozen (wrapped individually and placed in a resealable freezer bag) for up to 2 months.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
This is not even close to the Zingerman Black Magic Brownies!!! I am from Ann Arbor and took the class for making the brownies and came home with the recipe. If you make this recipe you will end up throwing it in the garbage. The ingredients are way off.
Hi, oven temp should be set to 350*
I am from Ann Arbor and frequent Zingerman’s quite a bit. These brownies are exactly like the ones I buy there. Absolutely awesome!
One of my brownie, 4 oz was 1/2 the size and weight of the other
I’ve been testing out brownie recipes including your Baked recipe (but I used this really expensive high cacao chocolate thatvmade it too rich) and this one is our favorite!!! I’ve tried six others. Thank you for sharing! I love the texture
I must try these. I live only about 25 minutes from Ann Arbor, and I have never heard of them before. :/ Guess I will have to try both. :D
Loved these. Thanks! I learned a new trick recently about cake flour. (2 cups cake flour = 1 3/4 cups AP flour + 1/4 cup cornstarch) You should have seen me doing math on my calculator to figure it out exactly for this recipe. It resulted in 160 g of AP flour + 1 1/2 Tbs cornstarch. (Since there’s no such thing as a 1/2 Tbs measuring spoon, that works out to 1 Tbs + 1 tsp + 1/2 tsp.) And if you don’t have a scale, that’s 1 1/2 cups AP flour, but then remove 1 1/2 Tbs flour and replace it with cornstarch. Fantastic!
Could you substitute white chocolate in this recipe? I know it’s not really chocolate, but perhaps if I also reduce some of the sugar?
Hi Renee, I think a straight white chocolate substitution might make these a little bit too greasy.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I live in the Detroit area, but have never made it over to Zingermans. Yet. We had company for Sunday dinner this week, so I made these brownies and served them with ice cream and homemade chocolate sauce. They were a hit and my guest sent her husband out last night in search of something sweet because she wanted more brownies.
I think I over mixed the eggs and sugar though. I used my stand mixer instead of a handheld mixer and I think the kitchen aid is just too powerful. The batter was much thicker than I expected and the brownies were a nice mix of fudgy and cakey, but not gooey. I will be trying the Baked brownies this week to compare.
I have a pan of these in the oven right now…I followed the recipe to the T and used Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate. I have mysteriously light-colored brownies. I came back to check the recipe to see if I missed cocoa powder or something that would render them a darker color. They are not yet finished baking, so I will report back once their done and cooled and I’ve tasted them. But what the heck?
I live not too far from Zingerman’s and have been there many times. I’ve never had these brownies since I’m allergic to chocolate, but I know everything I’ve had there is amazing so I bet these are too.
Hi,
I made these last night and they turned out cakey. What might I have done wrong?
Thanks
Hi Marilyne, It’s possible that the mixture was over mixed when the flour was added.
I go to Zingerman’s when I go to Ann Arbor. I haven’t had the brownies yet. These look fabulously full of chocolate.
Oh shoot – I realized I only have semi sweet chocolate, not the unsweetened kind. What now? Less sugar?
Hi Masha, Less sugar could impact the final texture of the brownies.
Looks amazing! I am also on the side of fudgey brownies. Cake brownies need frosting :)
It’s so hard to pick a perfect brownie recipe because everyone has their ideas of the perfect brownie. My philosophy is just to eat all the brownies with a smile on face! As long as they are moist and chocolaty, I’m good!
I love Zingermans and have been sad ever since my sister moved away from Ann Arbor. These look amazing!
Hey Michelle! thanks for sharing your recipes :) I made the brownies last night! They’re yummy, but a tad sweet for us. Do you have any tips for having such a flawless brownie top? My ones always crack …
I love your recipes by the way! I always get rave reviews – thanks for making me look like a pro! keep up the awesome work :)
Hi Liana, I don’t really do anything with regard to the top, that’s just how they baked up!