Rich Fudgy Brownies with (or without) Pecans

These rich, chewy, chocolaty brownies are topped with a delicious two-ingredient icing. Recipe below.

THE OTHER DAY, OUR NEIGHBOR ROSA INVITED US TO A COOKOUT in her backyard in honor of her sister Lorena’s birthday. We love her cookouts—there’s always great food and great conversation and her yard is an elegant, shady oasis—even on the hottest days, she somehow conjures cooling breezes. And we love Lorena, so celebrating her birthday? in Rosa’s yard? sounded like a perfect evening.

And it was perfect. Guests brought wine and homemade guacamole and salsa and other treats. We brought these brownies, topped with a delicious two-ingredient icing.

There are 987 trillion brownie recipes online and they are all very similar. For this recipe, we dialed back slightly on the sugars—too much sugar can make the brownies too sweet, overshadowing the chocolaty richness. And we used a mix of neutral oil and butter, the former for its slightly less guilt-producing nature and the latter because butter is wonderful. We also added a little instant coffee powder to help bring out the chocolate flavor.

And longtime readers will recognize this icing recipe—it’s Amanda Hesser’s mother’s icing for her Chocolate Dump-It Cake. It’s the easiest icing on the planet, with only two ingredients, and we love it for its effortlessness and its intense chocolatey tanginess. You will seriously consider putting it on everything.

I was going to add that these brownies last a remarkably long time in the fridge, but TBH, they probably won’t be hanging around your house long enough for you to test that.

Print Pin

Rich Fudgy Brownies with Pecans

These rich, chewy, chocolaty brownies are topped with a delicious two-ingredient icing.

Course Dessert

Ingredients

For the brownies

• 1/2 cup melted butter—1 stick
• 1/2 cup neutral oil, plus more for the pan—we used grapeseed oil
• 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 1-1/3 cup white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk or buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee
• 1-1/2 cup unbleached white flour
• 2/3 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips (I used a mix of mini and regular chips)
• 2/3 cup pecans and/or walnuts, coarsely chopped (optional, but they add some nice gently crunchy bits)

For the icing

• 2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2/3 cup sour cream

Instructions

• To begin, gently melt the butter in a small pan over low heat—when it is nearly melted, turn off the flame and let the heat of the pan complete the melting.
• Lightly oil a a 9x13 baking pan and line it with parchment paper—the paper should overhang the edges; you will use the overhang to lift out the brownies once they are baked and cooled. We used two sheets, one lengthwise and the other across the width, with flaps overhanging on all four sides. Oil the paper too.
• Heat the oven to 350ºF.
• In a large mixing bowl, stir together the sugars, salt, milk, oil and butter until all is smooth.
• Add the instant coffee, eggs and vanilla, and stir again until it's smooth and uniform.
• Sift the cocoa into this mixture and whisk everything. Then sift in the flour and gently whisk just until everything is not quite blended together. A little bit of flour should still be visible at the next step, which is to add in the chocolate chips and the nuts. Gently fold them into the batter with a spatula.
• Pour the batter into the baking pan—you may prefer to spoon it in (using a very big spoon)—and smooth out the top. Slide into the oven and bake for around 30 minutes. The brownies are done when they are just barely pulling away from the sides and a tester inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs. If it’s been more than 30 minutes and the tester comes out looking juicy, wipe it clean and test again nearby in case you stabbed a melty chocolate chip.
• Set the baked pan of brownies on a rack. This is ready for the icing when it's completely cooled. At that point, lift the baked cake out of the pan, using the overhanging parchment paper as handles, and set it on a cutting board or other big flat surface.
• Ice the brownies. The icing takes just a few minutes to make—start it when you are ready to use it, not earlier in the process. Melt the chocolate chips in the top of a double boiler or in the microwave (for microwaving, heat the chips in small bursts, stirring often, to prevent scorching). When the chips are all melted, whisk in the sour cream, a big spoonful at a time, until the icing is nicely uniform.
• Immediately spread it on the top of the brownies, ideally using an offset spatula. That's it. Leave everything alone for several minutes to let the icing set—on a hot day, you may wish to set the brownies in the refrigerator for a bit to help the icing firm up. Then you are ready to cut the whole thing into delicious individual pieces.

Kitchen Notes

Liz's crockery Corner. The fascinating back story on this Gaudy Welsh (actual name) plate was shared with another dessert, Lemon Lavender Scones. You'll find the story and the recipe right here.