Magical Layered Brownies

 

When I was dieting recently and so restricted in what I could eat I loved to look at food blogs and fantasize about what I would make when it was over.  Yesterday I needed to make a treat to take to book club and so I went through my list of bookmarks to pick something new that would hopefully be amazing.  I almost made mint brownies in honor of St. Patrick’s day, but I finally decided instead to make these Magical Layered Brownies.  AKA “Crack Brownies.”  Cause seriously, they were that good.  And I cut them into really small pieces, so you sort of felt like you had to eat more than one.  (And probably more than two…or three…)

What makes these unique is the layer of browned butter frosting in between the brownie and the chocolate glaze.  Yum, yum, yum!  Here’s the recipe, which is from the blog Mel's Kitchen Cafe.  (And don’t ask me how I found it—I have no idea!)  I didn’t make my own brownies—I just used a mix I had in the pantry.  Imagine how much better they could be with homemade brownies!?!

 

Magical Layered Brownies

*Makes 9X13-inch pan of brownies

Brownies:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Browned Butter Frosting:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Glaze:
3 tablespoons butter
4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch aluminum pan with nonstick cooking spray and cut parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pan. Lightly grease the parchment paper. Set the pan aside.

For the brownies, in a small saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate, stirring until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, eggs and salt. Mix with a handheld mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer for 3-4 minutes, until the mixture has lightened in color and is very thick. Fold in the warm (not hot!) chocolate/butter mixture. Stir in the flour and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing evenly.

Bake the brownies for 25-30 minutes until the sides pull away from the pan just slightly. Remove the brownies from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack (about 1 1/2 hours).

For the browned butter frosting, place the stick of butter in a small saucepan and set it over low heat. It is best to not use a non-stick or dark coated pan in this step because it will be difficult to tell when the butter has turned brown. Let the butter melt over low heat and turn a caramel brown color, about 15 minutes. Watch carefully so the butter doesn’t burn. Once it has turned a nice medium-brown color, remove it from the heat. Pour the butter into a medium bowl. Immediately add the powdered sugar, heavy cream and vanilla. Mix well with an electric mixer until the frosting is smooth and thick.  [At this point you will notice that the butter has separated and there are solid bits in the bottom of the pan.  I first strained these out to make the frosting but then decided that it didn’t have enough flavor and added them back in.  I figured because I was going to put a glaze on top of the frosting it wouldn’t matter if you could see little specks of butter solids…]

Spread the frosting over the cooled brownies.

For the glaze, melt the butter and chocolate together in the microwave or on the stovetop until it is smooth. Pour the warm glaze over the frosted brownies. Tip the pan from side to side to even out the glaze over the frosting (or carefully spread with a knife or offset spatula). Chill the brownies until the glaze is set and the brownies are chilled through, about 1-2 hours. The brownies taste best cold.