Red Truck Brownies Recipe

Makes 20 large brownies

At the bakery, brownies are the first thing we suggest whenever someone is looking for sweet finger-food bites for a large event — it’s not much of a surprise that they are complete crowd-pleasers. We don’t add nuts, and no one seems to miss them — the chocolate chips are unexpected inside and serve as good firm texture in the middle of a moist and rich brownie. I like to make these fairly large, but feel free to cut them smaller (or even larger!).

We also sometimes cut the brownies into quarters and package them as brownie bites. And that’s what my ninety-seven-year-old Aunt Molly has been asking for lately, because she can keep them in the freezer and grab a little nugget when the yearning for chocolate hits her. At Christmas, we break peppermint sticks or candy canes into small bits and press them into the top of the batter before baking.

Ingredients

• 1¼ cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• 9 large eggs
• ½ cup canola oil
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3½ cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1½ cups unbleached all purpose flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons espresso powder or very finely ground coffee
• ¾ teaspoon freshly grated orange zest (from 1 orange)
• 12 ounces (2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF and position a rack in the upper third.

2. Grease a 17 × 12 × 1-inch jelly-roll pan or a baking pan with interior dimensions of roughly 15.6 × 10 inches with vegetable oil spray. Line the pan with parchment paper.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cocoa powder, eggs, and oil on low speed until well combined. Add the butter and increase the speed to medium-low, beating just until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

4. Add the sugar and vanilla, beating on medium-low speed until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

5. Whisk together the flour, salt, and espresso powder in a separate bowl or sift them onto a sheet of parchment paper. Add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl along with the orange zest and beat on low speed for 30 seconds, or until no trace of flour remains. Scrape down the sides of the bowl once more and add the chocolate chips. Beat on low speed for 1 minute, then increase the speed to medium and beat for 3 minutes more. The batter will be thick. Scrape the batter into the pan, smoothing the top and spreading it evenly to the edges.

6. Bake on the upper rack of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the pan from front to back halfway through, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The brownies should be just set on the edges and still slightly soft on top.