CristaLee: Hazelnut Brownies

I have had a big bag of hazelnuts staring at me for quite some time. I bought them on a whim thinking that I would use them immediately.... and of course I didn't. So instead of letting them continue to sit in my pantry and bother me every time I opened it, I decided to finally do something with them. The first thing that came to my mind were brownies. And definitely not the boxed kind.

Instead of Baker's One Bowl Brownies, I decided to use Ina's Outrageous Brownie recipe. Ina's Brownies seemed like it would be more work than the One Bowl Brownies,

but it wasn't so bad. After taking a bite into these rich chocolate brownies, I was glad I decided to go the extra few steps (and bowls) with Ina's recipe. These brownies are rich, and I mean very rich. But it isn't a bad thing. They're super moist and the extra chocolate chips that are in them with the combination of the hazelnuts, give these brownies a great texture and crunch. The main thing with these brownies is that you do not want to over bake them. Keep an eye on them when they're in the oven.

Ina's reviews said that the brownies came out big, very big! So I decided to half the recipe. I also decided to half the recipe because I didn't have enough chocolate or butter than the original recipe calls for. Although I halved the recipe, I still got 20 brownies that were large enough for me. So keep reading, but beware these things are addictive!

Here's the Recipe:

(Adapted from Food Network - Ina Garten)

Ingredients

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1/2 pound (1 1/3 cups) plus 6 ounces (1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips, divided

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate (I used Baker's)

3 extra large eggs

1/2 tablespoon instant coffee powder (you can omit this if you want)

1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease (I used Pam) and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan. (325 degrees if using a dark non-stick pan).

2. On top of a double boiler, melt together butter, chocolate chips and unsweetened chocolate. Once it is completely melted, remove and let slightly cool.

3. In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, instant coffee, vanilla and sugar. Slowly stir in the warm chocolate mixture (I slowly added 1/8 of a cup at a time). Once combined, allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.

4. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the cooled chocolate mixture. In a small bowl, toss cooled toasted hazelnuts and chocolate chips with 2 tablespoons flour until coated and add to chocolate mixture. (Coating the nuts and chips in flour prevents them from sinking to the bottom of the pan) Pour the chocolate batter into prepared baking pan.

5. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs. Halfway through baking, tap the pan against the counter or oven to allow air to escape between the pan and the brownie dough. Do not over bake. Allow to cool completely and cut into squares. If you cut while they're still warm, it will come out a mess.