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Welcome to Quarantine Kitchen, a cooking show focused on tips and easy recipes you can execute in your home kitchen using basic ingredients and pantry staples. The show airs live on Facebook every Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Tune in by heading to the OnMilwaukee Facebook page.  [View past episodes and recipes here]

In addition to this week's episode featuring mustard rosemary chicken thighs, I’m also sharing a bonus recipe for one of my all-time favorite recipes: ultra-fudgy brownies. 

I spent years trying countless brownie recipes. Some were recipes suggested by friends and family. Others I found on the internet or in cookbooks. Along the way, I found recipes that came close… but none of them were exactly what I wanted. Many were too cakey. Some had great texture, but not enough chocolate flavor. Others were good, but way too fussy. So, I baked, and I tweaked. And finally I came up with a recipe I loved.

These brownies are soft, rich and deeply flavored with chocolate  thanks to espresso powder and dark chocolate chips. At the same time, they possess an awesome crackly crisp exterior that takes them right over the top.

Ultra fudgy brownies

8 ounces (2 sticks) of butter, softened
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
4 eggs
1 T pure vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
½ cup cake flour
1 cup cocoa powder
½ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp instant espresso powder
10 ounces  bittersweet chocolate chips*
*Guittard extra dark baking chips (63% cocoa) or Ghirardeli bittersweet (60% cocoa) both work well

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F. 

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cake flour, cocoa powder, salt and espresso powder. Set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugar and brown sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy.

4. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Add the vanilla when you add your last egg, mixing until smooth.

5. From there, gently incorporate the flour in three batches, stirring until just combined. 

6. Fold chocolate chips into batter.

7. Spread the batter evenly into a 9" x 13" baking pan, smoothing the top.

8. If you are using a metal pan, place the brownies into the oven and bake just until set, about 30-35 minutes.

9. If you are using a glass pan, turn the oven down by 25 degrees (to 325 F), place the brownies in the oven and bake for about 35 minutes, or until set.

10.  Allow to cool fully before slicing. Serve brownies on their own or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.