Cocoa Brownies

Name: Cocoa Brownies
Yield: about 24 squares, 9 × 13-inch pan
Cuisine: United States
Ingredients: 140 g unsalted butter; 112 g neutral oil, such as canola, grapeseed or light olive oil; 160 g natural cocoa powder, not Dutch-process; 6 g fine sea salt; 500 g caster (superfine) sugar; 4 large eggs, at room temperature; 2 tsp vanilla; 130 g all-purpose flour

Also called Alice Medrich's cocoa brownies, crackle-top brownies

Fudgy brownies made with cocoa rather than chocolate, half butter and half oil, with a shiny crackle top from beating the eggs and sugar.

Makes: about 24 squares, 9 × 13-inch pan

Make ahead

Adapted from Alice Medrich's Best Cocoa Brownies

Ingredients

Scale

Pan sizes, times and temperatures in the method are not scaled.

140 g½ cup + 2 tbspunsalted butter
112 g½ cupneutral oil, such as canola, grapeseed or light olive oil
160 g2 cupsnatural cocoa powder, not Dutch-process
6 g1 tspfine sea salt
500 g2½ cupscaster (superfine) sugar
4large eggs, at room temperature
2 tspvanilla
130 g1 cup + 1 tbspall-purpose flour

Method

Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) with a rack in the lower third. Line a 9 × 13-inch metal pan with parchment, leaving an overhang on two sides.
Cocoa paste. Melt the butter (140 g½ cup + 2 tbsp) and oil (112 g½ cup) together until hot, about 150°F. Off the heat, whisk in the cocoa powder (160 g2 cups) and salt (6 g1 tsp) until smooth and glossy. Let it cool until warm but not hot, about 110°F; a cold paste seizes and won't fold in.
The crust step. Beat the sugar (500 g2½ cups), eggs (4) and vanilla (2 tsp) on medium-high for a full 5 minutes, until pale, roughly doubled, and falling from the beaters in a ribbon that sits a moment before sinking. The sugar won't fully dissolve and doesn't need to.
Loosen the paste. Whisk about a quarter of the egg foam into the warm cocoa paste, then fold it back into the rest of the foam in two or three additions. Fold gently; deflating the foam is the main way to lose the crust.
Sift the flour (130 g1 cup + 1 tbsp) over the top and fold until just barely no dry streaks remain, about 20 strokes.
Bake. Scrape into the pan, smooth the top and bake 28 to 32 minutes, checking at 28. A toothpick 2 inches from the edge should come out with moist, clingy crumbs, and the center should still look faintly wet.
Cool 2 to 4 hours before lifting out. For clean edges, chill 30 minutes and cut with a hot, wiped knife.

Notes

No crackle top? Melt 40 to 50 g finely chopped dark chocolate into the fat in step 2. It's too little to taste, but it helps the crust form.
Dark or anodized pan. Take 2 to 3 minutes off the bake and check early. A hot oven is the usual cause of overbaking.
8 × 8-inch pan. Halve everything, fold about 15 strokes and bake 25 to 30 minutes.