Make These Super Salty Dark Chocolate Brownies for Your Book Club!

To celebrate the re-release of Ovenly by Agatha Kulaga & Erin Patinkin, we’re bringing you a couple of recipes from the book that are just perfect for your next book club meeting! Let’s start with these Super Salty Dark Chocolate Brownies. They’re a chewy, rich, decadent choice for a dessert. We recommend pairing them with a red wine and a thriller. Read on below for the recipe.

Ingredients:

• Softened unsalted butter and all-purpose flour, for preparing the 9×13 baking pan
• 1 cup American-process cocoa powder
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup dark Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons Turkish (very finely ground) espresso, or instant espresso (we prefer Stumptown’s Hair Bender Espresso)
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (8 ounces, 16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cubed
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¾ cup (packed) dark brown sugar
• Maldon sea salt, for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with softened butter and dust the pan with flour.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the American-process cocoa powder, flour, dark Dutch-process cocoa powder, espresso and salt. Set aside.
3. In a small saucepan over low heat (or in a small, microwave-safe bowl in a microwave oven), melt the butter and set aside to cool.
4. In another small bowl, whisk the eggs until the yolks are broken. Add the cooled butter and sugars, whisking until smooth.
5. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula to combine completely.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and sprinkle with the Maldon sea salt.
7. Bake for 35 minutes, or until the center is set and a toothpick inserted in the center of the brownies comes out clean.
8. Cool completely before cutting the bars into 15, approximately 3 x 2½-inch rectangles (or whatever size you prefer).

Note: For thicker brownies, use an 8 x 8-inch pan, and bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the brownies comes out clean.

Excerpted from Ovenly by Agatha Kulaga & Erin Patinin. Copyright © 2021 Agatha Kulaga & Erin Patinin. Published by Park Row Books®, a division of Harelquin Trade Publishing. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.

Let us know in the comments what dessert you’d bring to your book club meeting and make sure to check back later in the month for a new Ovenly recipe!