Browned Butter Brownies-what every drunk nerd needs :)

Last weekend, my husband and his good friend from college went over to a co-worker's house to hang out and play Axis and Allies for 7 hours.  Yes...7...hours...

Anyways, I offered to make some treats for them to take since they would be fed dinner at the party.  I found the recipe for browned butter brownies originally from Bon Appetit magazine, circa Feb. 2011.  I had made these once before and swooned over the smell of browned butter that wafted throughout my house.  Hear that, Scentsy?  Make THAT happen.

Here's the recipe if you, too, want to have a glorious smell in your house:

Browned Butter Brownies

Ingredients:
-10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch pieces
-1 1/4 cups sugar
-3/4 cup cocoa powder
-1 tsp (or just pour a bunch in, like me) vanilla extract
-2 large eggs
-1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour
-1 cup lightly chopped nuts (I used candied pecans)
-2 tsp water
1/4 tsp sea salt (or just kosher salt) for batter, another 1/4 tsp to sprinkle on top before baking

How to make 'um:

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line 8x8 pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.

2) Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat until butter stops foaming and browned bits form at the bottom of the pan...stirring often, about 5 minutes.
                                  How to Brown Butter 

3) Remove from heat; immediately add sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, 1/4 tsp sea salt, and water; stir to blend.

4) Let cool 5 minutes.

5) Add eggs to mixture 1 at a time, beating by hand until thick and shiny.

6) Add flour to mixture and beat vigorously by hand 60 strokes.  (Yes, very specific.  This is why I typically hate baking)

7) Stir in nuts and pour batter into pan.  Sprinkle remaining 1/4 tsp sea salt over the top.

8) Bake at 325 degrees until toothpick comes out clean--25-30 minutes.

Recipe found at: cocoa-brownies-with-browned-butter-and-walnuts

**So there you have it.  Deliciousness in a pan.  Hideki and his friends gobbled them up pretty quickly, had a few beers and apparently texted me at 1 am to bring more.  Uh, good thing I was asleep guys, or I would have been saying a big "Hell to the No!"

***Disclaimer:  I have nothing against nerds.  Seeing as how I compared my daughter to a Lord of the Rings character in the last post, I think I fall firmly into the "nerd" category myself.  :)



Bon Appetit! (said in my best Julia Child voice)