Midnight Brownies for a new moon

Pfft on good intentions.

I've been meaning to share this brownie recipe with you since the last blue moon on December 31, but preparations for New Year's Eve left the brownies and my resolutions list by the wayside. So now, I bring you brownies for tonight's new moon.

These brownies perfectly quash a late-night chocolate attack, a specific craving I encounter when I'm up in the dregs of night reading, writing, or staring slack-jawed at yet another episode of Criminal Minds. They're dense without oiliness, chewy, intensely chocolaty without bitterness, and they have no fluffy throwbacks to chocolate cake. The fact that they come together with little expended brain juice also recommends them to late-late munching.

By saving a snack like this for specific times--say, between 12 am and 3--I find the brownies themselves take on an exclusive specialness, a magical significance previously reserved for other early-AM items: that novel I must finish (like Margaret Atwood's The Edible Woman), the scarf that's all! most! done!, or--ahem--a blog post that needs just one more edit.

I hope you incorporate these brownies into your routine tonight. I promise they'll fit perfectly in the hand that's not flipping through a magazine.



Midnight Brownies
adapted from Vosges' Full Moon Brownies

• 8 oz. dark chocolate, like Green & Black's Maya bar or two Ghiradelli baking bars
• 3 Tb. cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. chili powder (optional)
  
• 8 oz. unsalted butter (or 8 oz. cold coconut oil)
  
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup cold coffee or espresso
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup cane sugar
  
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

First, preheat an oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Next, using a double-boiler or a small saucepan nested in a larger saucepan of gently simmering water, melt together the chocolate bar and butter over medium heat. Stir the chocolate a butter until everything's smooth, then slowly whisk in the cocoa and chili powders until smooth. Remove the chocolate from the stove and set aside.

In a medium bowl, lightly whisk together the eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt, and coffee--for only about 30 seconds or so. Gently mix in the chocolate/butter mixture. Stir in the flour until it's just incorporated and don't over-mix it.

Line a brownie pan with foil, then grease the inside of the foil. Pour the brownie batter into the pan and bake for 35 minutes, or until the center is set. Cool the brownies on an overturned muffin tin (so the air can circulate under the brownies) for at least 30 minutes before removing the brownies from their foil lining. Cut into squares and serve immediately--my preference--or wrap tightly in plastic and store for up to a week in the fridge.

They're best served at midnight, with a cup of coffee and some Coast to Coast AM.

If you liked this recipe, you might also enjoy:

Died-and-gone-to-chocolate cookies
Rocky road brownies
Chocolate chip biscotti with orange