Drop Dead Brownies

Photo: Kate Mulligan

Ingredients

1 box Trader Joes Truffle Baking mix

2/3 tablespoon (3 0z) stick of butter

1 1/2 cups whole fresh walnuts

1 1/2 teaspoons of pure bourbon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons Valhrona powdered chocolate

1 egg

1 teaspoon (heaping) Toasted Walnut oil

Preparation

Don't laugh, they're the nuttiest! If you don't love nuts, then there are hundreds of other brownie recipes to be found elsewhere.

Because this recipe uses a boxed mix as a main ingredient, do not be fooled into thinking it is an easy bake experience....In fact it is one that requires your presence in the kitchen, (no timers, please) as well as the attention of your nose, which will alert you to the exact moment they need to be taken from the oven.

This recipe also comes with three warnings;

This recipe is adapted from a packaged mix – but only Trader Joe's Truffle Baking Mix will work. No promises of perfection can be made with other versions.

This recipe must be shared, or next time you make it ~ it will not taste as good. The world needs a great brownie, and by making this recipe, you are responsible for taking on this mission.

Like most brownies, if you eat too many you will get sick.!

Years have gone into nailing down the nuances of this DDB. Further improvements may only be possible by adding or substituting a half cup of your favorite ________, what ever that may be. I have recently tried this recipe with an additional half cup of dried Montmartre Cherries with rave reviews.

Additional ingredients that must be included for the success of this recipe are as follows;

Substitute half the stick of room temperature butter, (not melted as the box says) with 2 oz of Cuisine Perel's Toasted Walnut Oil. Cuisine Perel has been on the leading edge of the Specialty Food market since 1981.

Cuisine Perel is the only manufacturer of this type of walnut oil – Don't expect that other walnut oils will do the trick – they are usually too salty or bitter. Skeptical? One whiff of this oil will transport you to a favorite memory of a long ago bakery or baking experience. When I want to improve my mood, I never hesitate to open the refrigerator and unscrew the cap (yes, it must be refrigerated or it will spoil)

Use only ONE large fresh egg (instead of two as the box says) Two eggs will make your batter cake like, and that is not going to work with the amount of walnuts that go into the mix – it will make it far too dry and crumbly. This is a gooey chocolate/walnut confection, not really a cake.

Use only fresh (from the open air market) whole walnuts. Do not cut the nuts up into tiny pieces as it will ruin the consistency of the gooey to solid ratio – a delicate balance that holds the brownie together long enough – barely long enough to get it into your mouth. Buy a whole pound of walnuts, and put in as many as you possibly can into the batter. When you are placing the batter into a 9 inch square pan, it will be as if you are pressing the chocolate batter into a foundation of walnuts. For success, think mortar and bricks.

Add 1 ½ teaspoons of pure bourbon vanilla extract to the batter. Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract: Nielsen-Massey's proprietary cold extraction process is responsible for that sweet, creamy, mellow vanilla flavor which is an important factor in the creation of this superior brownie.

Of the two tablespoons of Valhrona chocolate baking powder, add one tablespoon into the batter saving the an additional tablespoon for sifting ever so lightly on to the top of the confection during the last five minutes of the baking cycle. This bitter dust is important because it heightens the range of chocolate consciousness in your taste buds as it acts a s a counterpoint to the sweet content of the bittersweet chocolate chips of the boxed mix

Always prepare the 9 inch square pan with butter and Cuisine Perel's Toasted Walnut oil

Preheat the oven to 350oF, but turn the temperature down to 325oF if your oven runs hotter otherwise the brownies will burn on the edges and be way too gooey in the center at the end of the baking cycle. Check your progress half way through this effort and have ready a tin foil skirt to wrap around the edges of the pan to protect the edges from drying out.

Bake for 25-36 minutes testing the last seven minutes. Cut into squares when out of the oven about twenty minutes, and extract from pan when fully cooled.

Get out a cold glass of milk from the frig and enjoy!