Recipe :: Molten Chocolate "Brownies"

This recipe is adapted from La Pain Quotidien’s recipe for Belgian brownies, which is more like a rich but light chocolate soufflet or molten chocolate cake. For an elegant dessert, you can bake them in individual muffin tins lined with cupcake wrappers, or in ramekins. I like to bake these in a square pan, cutting them into squares, and making them into the most delicious brownie sundaes ever. For the holidays, top a warm brownie with a scoop of peppermint stick ice cream and crushed peppermint bark.

I make these brownies with garbanzo bean flour in order to make them gluten-free, but you can easily use pastry flour instead. There’s so little flour in this recipe that you won’t taste the difference either way.

Molten Chocolate “Brownies”
Makes 14 brownies

9 ounces bittersweet chocolate (60 – 64% cacao)
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
5 eggs, beaten lightly with a fork
1 1/3 cups superfine sugar*
3 tablespoons garbanzo bean flour (or pastry flour)

1. Roughly chop the chocolate into pieces. Transfer to a medium-sized bowl and add the butter. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, until the two ingredients have melted. Mix well and transfer to a large bowl; set aside.

2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Sift the sugar and flour together, then stir into the chocolate. Add the eggs and mix well. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. The batter will thicken as it stands.

3. Spray 9″ square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 40-50 minutes, until center is no longer jiggly. The brownies will still be moist when done; they will puff up and fall slightly as they cool.

*If you don’t have superfine sugar, put the same amount of granulated sugar in your food processor and grind it for a minute. Let it rest for a few seconds before opening the lid.