The Momii Diaries: Cocoa Brownies for Monday Morning Blues part 2

Remember this photo from yesterday's post?

Disclaimer: This is a long post.
I'm posting photos of the steps I've followed to get this outcome. Alright, so first things first, as stated in the main recipe page, you'll be needing the following ingredients:

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cold large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup walnut or pecan pieces (optional)

Special equipment: An 8-inch square baking pan

For the procedure, I did the following steps:

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom and sides of the baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.

2. Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir from time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot.

It looks a little gritty at this point but don't worry about that because it will smoothen out after you've added the eggs and flour.

3. Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon and let the mixture cool completely, about 20-25 minutes. Cooling the mixture is not included in the original recipe but I opted to add this extra step to yield chewy brownies.

Ina Garten of Barefoot Contessa stresses how important it is to use good quality vanilla when baking. Nielsen-Massey has a very rich smell compared to our local brand of vanilla. Unfortunately, this isn't available locally yet.

4. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny.

5. Add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer.

6. Beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in the nuts, if using. Spread evenly in the lined pan.

This is how the mixture should look like before you spread it into your lined pan.

7. Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack.

Straight from the oven, this is how our brownie looked like. Kinda plain if you ask me. Now for the fun part, topping and decorating the brownie.

Half of the first batch was left as is. The other half, we decorated with Nutella topping ( see recipe below).

Brownie with Nutella Topping

Mama likes her brownies with nuts in them so I added almonds on half of the brownies with the Nutella topping.

Brownie with Nutella and Almond Topping

For the second batch, I let the kids decide on what toppings to put on their brownie. It should come to no surprise that my two girls decided on Nutella topping with chocolate chips! Talk about chocolate overload!