family dinner brownies

Ingredients

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

½ teaspoon kosher salt

12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate pieces

1½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

5 large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°. Line a 13x9" baking pan, preferably metal, with parchment paper, pressing firmly into corners and smoothing creases. Lightly coat with nonstick spray; set aside. Whisk flour, cocoa, and salt in a medium bowl (if cocoa powder is very lumpy, sift mixture).

Heat chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (bowl should not touch water), stirring constantly, until melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat. Whisk eggs, both sugars, and vanilla in another medium bowl until smooth, then whisk into chocolate mixture. For a shiny, crackly top, whisk mixture an additional 10 seconds. Add dry ingredients and whisk just until flour disappears and mixture is smooth and glossy. Scrape into prepared pan and smooth top. To avoid air bubbles in the batter, tap the pan on counter a few times just so the batter sets and air bubbles rise to the top.

Place pan in the oven and reduce oven temperature to 350°. Bake brownies until lightly puffed in the center and a tester inserted into the center comes out greasy but mostly clean with only a few crumbs attached, 25–30 minutes (I like them. a bit undercooked so I only cook them for 26 minutes). Let cool.

Invert pan onto a wire rack, remove foil, then invert onto a cutting board right side up. Cut into squares with a plastic knife (this is key because the plastic knife does not bring the brownie up but rather cuts smooth and clean).

Do Ahead: Brownies can be baked 2 days ahead. Store tightly covered at room temperature.