Your Step-by-Step Guide to Making the Ultimate Brownies

Want to make the ultimate brownies for your friends and family? We can help you flawlessly follow the recipe with these step-by-step photos and detailed instructions. These brownies are tall, fudgey, and oh so delicious! 

• 8 (1-ounce) squares of unsweetened chocolate
• 1 cup butter
• 5 eggs
• 3 cups of sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups chopped pecans or walnuts (lightly toasted)

The first step is, of course, to grease the pan and preheat the oven. In this case, preheat your oven to 350 F or 325 F for dark metal and/or glass pans.

The next step is to melt 8 ounces of unsweetened chocolate and 1 cup of butter in a medium-sized, heat-safe bowl over a saucepan that has about 1 to 2-inches of water, over low heat.

Once your chocolate is combined nicely with your butter, remove the chocolate mixture from the stove and set aside to cool slightly.

While the chocolate and butter are beginning to melt, it's time to toast the nuts. There are several ways to toast nuts: on the stovetop, in the oven or toaster oven, or in the microwave. We happened to have a toaster oven on hand, so we used that. Just put 2 1/2 cups of chopped walnuts in a foil-lined baking pan and set it for medium and toast.
 

Next, in a mixing bowl, add 5 eggs, 3 cups of sugar, and 1 tablespoon of vanilla and cream together. Mix for 10 minutes.

It's not necessary, but this is one of the recipes where owning a stand mixer comes in handy. Not to worry, though, you can still use a hand mixer and be just fine!

You may be wondering why this recipe has no leavening agent, such as baking powder or soda. There's not a need when the egg mixture gets this much volume from mixing it for 10 minutes.

Once you have beaten the eggs, in a separate bowl, mix 1 1/2 cups flour and 1 teaspoon of salt with a wire whisk.

 

While the mixer is running, slowly add the cooled chocolate mixture to the egg mixture. If a stand mixer is unavailable, add the chocolate a little at a time between mixings.

 

While mixing, gradually add the flour.

Then, mix in the nuts by hand. 

Next, carefully put the mixture into your prepared pan for baking. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, keeping an eye so as not to over bake. We are looking for rich, chocolatey brownies here.

Once your brownies are done, cool in a pan on a wire rack. Once cool, cut into whatever sized squares you'd like.

This recipe makes 24 to 30 squares, depending on how it's cut. If you're looking to make a small batch, check out this brownie recipe for one or two people.