Brown Butter Brownies

My good friend Mark gave me this recipe, which was odd, because the most difficult thing I've ever seen him cook is a hot dog.  But, he claimed these brownies were as addictive as crack, so I thought I'd give it a try.  Browning the butter did change the flavor in a very interesting way - it gave them an almost nutty, caramelized flavor. Delightful!

Ingredients:

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 1/4 cups sugar

3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon unbleached all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9 x 9 pan with nonstick spray. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking, stirring often, until the butter stops foaming and browned bits form at the bottom of the pan.  Remove from heat and immediately add sugar, cocoa, vanilla, and salt. Stir to blend. Let cool about 5 minutes (the mixture will still be hot). Add the eggs one at a time, beating vigorously to blend after each addition. When mixture looks thick and shiny, add the flour and stir until blended.  Transfer the batter to prepared pan.

Bake brownies until a knife or toothpick inserted into the center comes out almost clean, about 25 minutes. Cool in pan before cutting, then serve.

Tips: It really depends on your oven how long these will need to cook - my oven cooks pretty low, so I had to leave them in there for 40 minutes.  The brownies will be softer than normal because there isn't much flour in them. Enjoy!