These brownies are gooey, chewy, and full of chocolate. Better make a double batch because they will be gone before you know it!

People can be divided into those who love gooey brownies and those who don’t. Just like chocolate chip cookies, some like them chewy, some like them crispy. I love gooey, chewy, soft cookies and brownies! Ian, who is a big fan of gooey brownies, and I have been trying different recipes and making some adjustments to find the perfect one.

A few months ago I got the “Baking: From My Home to Yours” book written by the famous Dorie Greenspan. Everything I baked so far using her recipes has been delicious. There are over 300 recipes in her book. She gave up working on her doctorate in gerontology and, instead started baking cookies in the basement of a restaurant. Since then she wrote 12 cookbooks, including “Baking with Julia”, “Baking Chez Moi”, “Sweet Times” and “Paris Sweets”. Her latest book “Dori’s Cookies” comes out in October.

Dorie Greenspan created this recipe to honor Katharine Hepburn, who loved brownies. Miss Hepburn liked her brownies to be thin, gooey and with a rich chocolate flavor. While searching for the actual recipe Miss Hepburn was said to have used, Dorie Greenspan found two different ones. So, she created her recipe keeping in mind the essence of Katharine’s brownies.

She used only 1/4 cup of flour and added instant coffee, cinnamon and lots of great quality baking chocolate. For my variation I used coconut oil instead of butter, semisweet baking chunks substituted for bittersweet ones and I skipped the nuts since my kids prefer it that way.

When chocolate is the star and main ingredient of your dessert, it really is important that you use the best quality chocolate you can find. For this recipe I used Scharffen Berger semisweet baking chunks available at my local Target.

To prepare the brownies, start by placing the oven rack in the middle of it. You don’t want the bottom of the pan to be too close to the heat or the brownies will be dry. Placing the rack on the lower part of the oven when baking fruit pies is recommended since the juice will soften the dough anyway.

Grease an 8-inch baking pan, then line the bottom with a parchment paper and dust the sides with a bit of flour. Shake off the excess.

In a small bowl mix together flour, cinnamon and salt.

Melt the coconut oil (or butter, if preferred) in a medium saucepan. Add cocoa powder and instant coffee. Stir well until everything is dissolved, then cool for 3-4 minutes.

Next, whisk in eggs, one at the time, then add sugar and vanilla extract. Don’t over whisk! Gently incorporate flour mixture, baking chunks and nuts, if using.

Pour the batter into the pan. Bake in preheated to 325ºF oven for about 30 minutes. The brownies should be gooey with a very thin layer of crust. Cool for at least 45 minutes before serving.

Makes: 16 brownies     Prep time: 30 minutes      Ready in: 2 hrs

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup of flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons instant coffee
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4-6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet baking chunks
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
• Chocolate syrup for decorating

Directions:

1. Place the oven rack in the middle and preheat oven to 325ºF. Prepare an 8-inch baking pan: grease it, line the bottom with a parchment paper, grease the paper and dust the pan with flour. Shake off the excess.
2. In a small bowl combine flour, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
3. In a medium pot melt the coconut oil, then add cocoa powder and instant coffee. Stir well, cook for about 30 seconds and remove from the heat. Cool for 3-4 minutes.
4. Whisk in eggs, one at a time. Next add sugar, vanilla extract, flour mixture and chocolate chunks (and nuts if using). Mix everything until just incorporated.
5. Pour into prepared baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. The top should be slightly dry but still gooey when done. Cool for at least 45 minutes before cutting into small pieces. Decorate with chocolate syrup before serving if desired.

Enjoy!

Recipe slightly adapted from “Baking: From My Home to Yours” by Dorie Greenspan.