100 Hour Brownies
Packed with chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate, these brownies are unbelievably fudgy and decadent.
If you’re a food dork like me, you probably spend a fair amount of time watching cooking shows on You Tube. One of the recipes that keeps popping up in my feed is this recipe for 100 Hour Fudgy Brownies, courtesy of Alvin Zhou. My initial thought was to say, “But why?”, a la Ryan Reynolds. I mean, I make a mean brownie, and they certainly don’t take 100 hours. I can bang them out start to finish in less than an hour and they’re perfect. But every single time I clicked on You Tube, there they were, demanding I give them a try. So, I went for it. And holy crap…I’ll never think of brownies the same way again.
These are not like any other brownies you’ve ever had before. Stick with me here, because what I’m about to say will leave you scratching your head at first. Did you ever make oobleck as a kid? It’s that cornstarch mess that is both a liquid and a solid at the same time. I swear, that’s what happens with these brownies!!! After they’re baked, they set up beautifully and they hold their shape like a solid, but once you warm them up (and you have to warm them up before you eat them), I swear they turn to this molten block of warm, gooey fudge…they are incredible!
And there’s soooooooo muuuuuuuuch chocolate in them. I almost can’t believe I’m saying this, but it would be a crime to top them with vanilla ice cream. Honestly, if I had to pick one dessert to have for the rest of my life, it would be a brownie sundae, but ice cream would be lost on these babies.
It’s kind of strange recipe, 100 hours aside, because these brownies also take a short trip to the freezer at one point, and a much longer trip to the fridge for their multiple rest times…all of which, according to Mr. Zhou, affect the general fudge factor. Got to say, he’s definitely on to something! The only thing I changed from his original recipe is I cut back some on the espresso powder, and I used whatever chocolate I had lying around. I may have even raided my daughter’s Halloween stash for the milk chocolate…just don’t tell her I said that!
100 Hour Brownies
Ingredients
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 1 ice cube
- 4 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon espresso powder
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 8 ounces 75% cacao chocolate melted
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 3.5 ounces milk chocolate chopped
- 3.5 ounces 75% cacao chocolate chopped
- 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large pan, begin melting butter, stirring constantly. Keep stirring over medium-low heat until butter begins to smell nutty and has started to turn a golden brown color, about five minutes. Remove from heat, add in the ice cube and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, vanilla and sugar until thick and a pale yellow color. Sift in the cocoa powder, espresso powder and salt and mix until well blended. Add in the browned butter and hen the melted chocolate, mixing well after each addition. Sift in the flour and mix well.
- In a bowl, combine the 3.5 ounces chopped milk chocolate, 3.5 ounces chopped 75% cacao chocolate and 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips. Fold HALF of the chocolate into the brownie batter, reserving the remaining chocolate.
- Line an 8×11 pyrex pan (can also use a 9×13 pan, adjusting the bake time to 30 minutes) with parchment paper. Spread the batter into the prepared pan. it will be VERY thick. Scatter remaining chocolate over the top of the batter and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Set in fridge for three days.
- On the third day, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove pan from fridge and remove plastic wrap. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes (30 if using 9×13 pan).
- After baking, remove pan from the oven and immediately top with aluminum foil. Place pan in the freezer for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, transfer pan to fridge for 24 hours.
- When ready to serve, remove pan from fridge, remove brownies from pan and slice into 12 portions. To eat, warm each slice in the microwave for about 20 seconds or warm in a 350 oven for a couple of minutes. Eat, blissfully, with a large, cold glass of milk!
10 Comments
Sara · January 14, 2021 at 6:03 am
I didn’t get to store it away for the length the recipe requires, as I did this as a final project for my baking class, but i did store it for two days and it turned out amazing! I honestly would definitely do this again. The only thing I changed was swapping espresso powder for turkish coffee, and it worked out just about the same, since I couldn’t find espresso powder anywhere sadly. I love brownies that are fudgy and these were absolutely amazing, the texture given by the chocolate chunks were so perfect!
The Flour Girl · January 14, 2021 at 12:55 pm
Thanks! That’s good to know they were good after two days! I was wondering myself if a shorter resting time would be ok. 🙂
Portia · March 6, 2021 at 9:39 am
These are great! I’m so glad that I took the time to make these, because let me tell you… Thanks!
The Flour Girl · March 6, 2021 at 9:02 pm
They are time consuming, but totally worth it!
olivia · May 9, 2021 at 10:50 pm
Hey, I saw this recipe and was wondering if I could substitute some of the white sugar for brown sugar. If so, how much can I use?
The Flour Girl · May 10, 2021 at 2:33 pm
Hey there! I think swapping brown sugar for the white would work out fine. Since brown sugar adds more moisture to baked goods, you might even end up with something fudgier. I’d probably try swapping half of the white sugar for brown. Let me know ow they turn out! 🙂
D · May 27, 2021 at 6:08 pm
Just made finished this recipe and I’ve got notes girl. I was staring at about 6.5 cups of batter in a 9×13 pan, and I could not in good conscience, with all the money it took to make these, bake them like this. They will never cook thoroughly through, not a damn chance. They are entirely too thick, given how rich they are. So be warned, fill the pan you’re planning on using with 6.5 cups of water to see how thick your brownies will be. My gut (which is never wrong when it comes to baking, with over 40 years experience) says to split the batter between 2 9×9 pans. Which I did and they are perfect. Any thicker and it would be a chore to eat one haha
The Flour Girl · May 27, 2021 at 7:47 pm
I love that you split up the batter…I was actually thinking of making these again and splitting the recipe in half because it makes so much and they are sooooo rich! I was skeptical, too, about how they would bake, but surprisingly they turned out great in larger pan. Glad they turned out by dividing the batter into two pans! Now I definitely have to make them again! 🙂
Tanushree · September 7, 2021 at 8:02 am
With this same recipe in a baking tin of 7.5×7.5 do I need to half the batter?
The Flour Girl · September 7, 2021 at 11:17 am
Hi Tanushree. Yes, I would definitely half the recipe for a smaller tin.