I just made the most wonderful brownies

(Ooops, no sourdough but they were still wonderful)

It's a recipe that I've made a half dozen or so times over the past 6 months that I've been tweaking and experimenting with different chocolates and flours.

Has anyone here noticed that different flour (even if they are they same type, like all-purpose or something else) can affect a recipe? Well, I've made this recipe with Gold Medal Unbleached All Purpose, King Arthur All Purpose, Pillsbury bleached All purpose and this time - an organic unbleached pastry flour directly from the mill in Colorado. I've had the flour for a long, long time but just never really used it till this week. Then the other day I made some biscuits with it and they were outstanding. Now I've made the brownies and ... I'll tell you, I could have easily eaten at least half, if not the entire pan in one sitting they were THAT GOOD. Now I can't wait to make the puff pastry with it (I'm gonna get Sooo fat soooo fast... ) Not to mention my favorite cookie recipe...

Anyway, here's the recipe:

Easy Fudge Brownies
1/2 c butter
1/2 c cocoa (I sift it)
1 c brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 c flour
1/2 c chopped nuts (optional)
1/4 tsp salt

Melt the butter. Stir in the cocoa. Stir in the brown sugar. Beat in the eggs and the vanilla. Sift together the flour & salt and stir into the chocolate mix. Add the nuts.

Spread intoan 8" greased pan (I use a round pan). Bake in pre-heated oven 350 degree oven for 20 - 25 minutes. Be careful to not over-bake.

Anyway, I'd been frustrated with the brownies because they're supposed to be fudgy brownies and they never before met "my" definition of fudgy. The original recipe called for 1/2 cup flour - I reduced that to 1/3 cup and that helped some. The lower-protein all purpose flours were better than the higher-protein King Arthur flour but there didn't seem to be much of a difference between the bleached and unbleached flours.

I also tried a variety of cocoa's - Hershey, Nestle, Van Leer, a bulk cocoa, Scharffenberger, and the Swiss cocoa that I used tonight. I preferred the alkalized (Dutched) Van Leer over the non-alkalized American cocoas, didn't care for the bulk cocoa or (surprisingly) the Scharffenberger, liked Nestle better than Hershey, but the Swiss cocoa that I used tonight surprised the heck out of me. It was an inexpensive brand that I was unfamiliar with, had never tried and really didn't have high expectations for. I was quite pleasantly surprised.

Anyway, it's been quite interesting experimenting with the variety of flours and cocoas, I've learned a few things. Flour really does make a difference in the flavor of baked items.

Thanks for your findings on the cocoa brands. Not all are the same, for sure. And where is the mill in Colorado, if you remember? I'm learning about local places to get goodies here in CO. So, pleeeeze share the name of the mill.

I just started using the King Arthur flour and am noticing the difference. I think it's why I'm liking my latest cornbreads.

Rocky Mountain Flour Milling. They're in Platteville, just a little north of Denver.

Here's the website
http://www.bsm.com/rockymountainmilling/

They only sell flour in 50 lb bags but if you have the storage space it's the most economical way to buy flour.

King Arthur flour is good, it's a slightly higher protein than other all-purpose flours so breads rise a little higher. They also have a blending process that lends a great taste to baked goods.

in an 8" round pan, they're only about 1/2" or so. It's probably only half the amount of brownie batter that you would make for a 9"x13" pan. Other recipes I've used call for 3 - 4 eggs and 1 cup of flour, this recipe uses only 2 eggs and 1/3 cup of flour so the baking time is less.