Over-the-top BROWNIES
Indulge yourself with these maximalist bars
In the vast and varied world of brownie recipes, there are the minimalist versions: pure expressions without nuts, chips or icing.
Then there are the maximalist takes, stuffed to their fudgy edges with all manner of sugary excess.
My pandemic-weary soul cries out for indulgence: Make mine as gooey, chewy and opulently embellished as they can be.
So, I developed these brownie recipes to satisfy the depths of my chocolaty desire in two distinct ways: salted and candy bar inspired.
The salted pretzel brownies are the most restrained of the two, with the pretzels adding crunch and a toasty character alongside a saline zing. Try to find small pretzels for the topping, which look particularly adorable all lined up like twisted hearts across the crackled brownie surface.
I’ve also tucked a graham cracker and crushed pretzel crust beneath the brownie batter, giving the bars cookielike appeal run through with salted caramel notes.
The inspiration for the next brownie variation began with the coconut heart of a Mounds bar. But as I experimented, I realized that the difference between a homemade Mounds bar filling and a classic coconut macaroon is mostly in the ratio of sweetened condensed milk to coconut flakes. For these brownies, I added just enough of the syrupy milk to bind the coconut, then plopped scoops of them in “mounds” on top of the batter. Part cookie, part candy, they are over the top in the very best way.
Subtlety, after all, is not the point of any of these confections, which are as exuberantly joyful as brownies can be.