Georgia Pecan Brownies & Ten Tips for Better Brownies
By kmorganmoss • Sep 19th, 2008 • Category: Desserts •
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You could hardly call me a Brownie Connoisseur, though I have most certainly had my fair share of them. To say this is the best brownie that I have ever had is an understatement. It also means that even though I like an adventure and am always on the lookout for a way to top what I think is the best; I declare that I shall look no more for a better Brownie recipe.
This is all because I have found a brownie that is moist yet chewy, fudgy yet cake-like chock full of nuts with a rich chocolaty taste all packed into each morsel of pure brownie bliss.
This is not to say that I don’t need to make these again adjusting a few things; most importantly the exact time to take the brownies out of the oven. Certainly I will try a few other brands of chocolate like Scharffen Benger or a bar of Valhona both of which I have tucked away in my pantry. But this is the recipe that I will use to adjust a few items for it is pure perfection in so many ways.
Virginia Willis always comes through with top praise when I give my hand to trying one of her recipes. It comes as no surprise to my friends that I absolutely adore her cook book, BON APETIT, Y’ALL and will continue to profess my appreciation for Virginia. Every recipe is pure comfort food and Virginia does a splendid job guiding and leading me as I recreate her recipes at home. She never lets me down and in this day and age, someone that I can count on means a great deal to me.
Along with her recipe I shall leave you with a few tips for better Brownies as they are a touchy lot to make. Even a minute more in the oven can make the difference between good and grand. I love dark chocolate so chose to make the brownies using bittersweet chocolate rather than using semi-sweet as Virginia suggested. I also like my nuts toasted so did so before adding.
Ten Tips for Better Brownies
- Always use the finest ingredients when making brownies; sweet butter, premiere chocolate and homemade vanilla extract if possible.
- Homemade baking powder is a must along with soft wheat flour like White Lily if at all possible.
- Make sure your nuts are fresh, and toast them lightly for better flavor.
- When testing for doneness the center will seem a touch underdone. This is the time to take them out of the oven if the sides are done as they will continue to bake in the pan while cooling.
- The last five minutes or so watch them carefully as even a minute or two can make the difference between a moist or dry brownie.
- Nuts make the batter lighter, if omitting them the brownie will be more dense and you will need to adjust the baking time.
- Melt the butter adding the sugar till dissolved makes for a moister brownie.
- When mixing the chocolate with the batter if a small portion of the chocolate isn’t melted don’t worry as it will give you pockets of creamy chocolate in between bites.
- A thick batter will give you moist fudge like brownie, where as a thin batter yields a more cake like brownie.
- Brownies will firm up upon cooling so do consider this when taking them out of the oven.
Georgia Pecan Brownies
Adapted-Virginia Willis; BON APETIT, Y’ALL
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups dutch cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons homemade baking powder
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon homemade vanilla extract
12 ounces best-quality bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup toasted pecan pieces
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9×13 inch baking dish or pan with butter
- In a saucepan, melt 1 cup of butter over medium heat; add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Keep mixture warm.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.
- Add the butter mixture and stir to combine.
- Add the eggs, vanilla extract, chocolate and the nuts.
- Stir until the chocolate is almost all melted and the ingredients are combined. (This is a thick batter)
- Spoon the batter into a prepared pan and spread the top to even the mixture in the pan.
- Bake until set, 25 to 35 minutes.
- Remove to a rack to cool.
- Cut into pieces and serve.
- Store into an airtight container for up to 3 days. Frankly, they won’t last 3 days!
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kmorganmoss is the aspiring writer, photographer & passionate cook of ayankeeinasouthernkitchen.com; she is currently blogging and hopes to find her calling.
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As we say in the South, Dag gum it! I am off to the mountains for the weekend so I can’t stop right NOW and make these. But believe me, upon my return (even before I unpack the car), I will be making these. Until then, I am sure I will think about them 1000 times. What a great post! As always, thanks and happy eating. Sallie
Those tips are so great! I never knew the butter and sugar trick.
That’s exactly the kind of Brownie I love! It’s viciously gooey, chewy and moist! Beautiful and perfect!
Cheers,
Rosa
I really must, must, must not read your site outside of mealtimes. It’s 8.05 in the morning and I’m just craving brownies! That cross section is just too much to bear-I must inhale some brownies stat! hehe
I’m definetly getting this cookbook! This brownie looks heavenly, my 11 year old daughter LOVES brownies, she wanted brownies for her birthday, wait till I make these for her she’s gonna flip! Thank You Kim!
Yum! They look so good. — michele
I love how you toasted the nuts first, I usually don’t do that when baking, great idea to add more flavor. They look thick and rich and so delicious! I want brownies for breakfast!
Can I add this to the list of goodies to make me
? They are smack down perfect!!
brownies are awfully finicky. i can’t even count how many times i’ve gotten distracted and ended up with a dry product. yours certainly look perfect! thanks for the tips and eye candy, kim.
All I have to say is “death by chocolate”! The photos only capture how great they look but the taste put me over the edge. These are the greatest by far and I happen to be a bit of a chocoholic so I can attest by first hand…..tread lightly when eating because they can put you in the best coco coma.
Thanks for sharing Mom and sorry to my sisters D & L because I ate your share and did not leave a crumb. Better luck next time.
I’m definitely not a brownie fan… but these photos are certainly tempting!
I totally agree about toasting the nuts. There is so much flavor that comes from toasting them that it is a shame to not do it!
Your photo of the brownie makes me want to take a great big bite - even though I’m not even hungry!
The brownies look fantastic and thanks for the tips. I learned alot today.
These brownies look great! I have been trying to perfect my brownie recipe, I’m getting pretty close!
Oh.My.God.
That first shot is divine! Makes me wanna dive right in and live in that brownie!
My mouth is watering now, Looks yummy!!
Delicious looking brownie and I love the tips!
These look really good. I love a brownie with a shiny, crackly top crust, that’s my visual clue that it’s a good (and rich) brownie! I agree about melting the butter and disolving the sugar..I also add the cocoa to bloom it. Then fold in the flour and nuts last so as not to develop much gluten in the flour. Works every time! Toasting the nuts for any recipe should go without saying! They are much more flavorful that way.
Bookmarked!!!
wow - the penultimate brownie recipe…
i may have to use walnuts though…
that top photo is GORGEOUS!
Just please only send me two of these, otherwise I yum down the entire batch!
This is one of my favorite pictures of the whole week! This recipe looks just amazing! well done!
Kim, these look fantastic! No doubts they were delicious!
Those are some serious hunks of chocolate luv! Thank you!
Luscious looking brownies! Great tips. I like to use Bittersweet choc. in my brownies. I’ve never heard of making homemade baking powder. How do you do that, and what difference would that make?
These brownies look out of control! Perfectly moist and nutty! I love to brownie tips too! Great post!
[...] Kitchen has thrown together the most mouthwatering blog post I’ve seen in a long time. These Georgia Pecan Brownies are simply out of control. They have the perfect balance of moist chocolate and crunchy pecans. Out [...]
Fabulous! Making some this week!
I love this post and your tips for baking brownies. Thankyou - I am going to try this recipe.
Oh my!!! These brownies look so rich and yummy! Great post by the way!
Hi Kim,
These are all great tips! We’d like to feature them on Chef’s Tip. The best part is you don’t even need to register or sign up. Please email me at chefstip(at)gmail(dot)com if interested. Thank you
Amy
I am a brownie lover! I love mine warm a la mode.
I am passing this recipe along with your tips onto my better half.
Ok, this is just unfair. Those look so good. Levi sees you’re making stuff. “Did Mimi make those?” You know what I had to tell him? “Yes, honey. Mimi did make those.” His response, “Why is Mimi so far away?”
Feel guilty.
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these looks SO great…plus thanks for the brownie tips. I don’t know if they sell White Lily flour near me but I’ll look.
These look fabulous! I love chocolate and these look so rich! I have a great 1 bowl brownie recipe but I never thought of using sea salt. And I bet the pecans are great!
qngsuvjzllaigsvrwell, hi admin adn people nice forum indeed. how’s life? hope it’s introduce branch