Brownie Points

How could I possibly not buy this issue?
My subscription is up, and this promises
Best-Ever Brownies, with a recipe
 from chocolate maven Alice Medrich. 

Okay, it's split-personality me, reporting in again. Just two nights ago, I was baking a Swiss chard dish and saying I was weary of chocolate. Last night, I was eating raw veggie "pasta" at Whole Foods.

And tonight? I have an 8" pan of brownies in the oven--sometimes, the comfort of cocoa feels as warm as a mother's embrace. If that's even possible.

Alice Medrich is a highly regarded empress of the dark--I have one of her cookbooks, from my friend [nicknamed Candy] and I love it. So when Bon Appétit tells me these are the best brownies, and I flip through and see that Alice made them, I can't resist trying them. 

Alice's recipe this time calls for browned butter, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I once made a browned-butter pie crust from a Redbook recipe years ago, and it was pretty good. But I didn't like the sound of browned butter in brownies, so I just melted the butter instead.

Now I'm thinking I probably ruined the batch, since of course browned butter has a different consistency than regular melted butter--and a distinct, nutty flavor, too.

Anyway, in went the Valrhona cocoa, the pure vanilla extract, the little bit of salt [to cut the sweetness], the organic sugar, the very small amount of flour [1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon].

Some fresh techniques from this recipe:

1. This doesn't use any solid chocolate, just 3/4 cup cocoa powder.
2. After the butter melts [or browns], Alice has you immediately stir in the sugar, cocoa, vanilla and salt--and 2 teaspoons of water!--but then you wait 5 minutes before adding the eggs. Never saw that pause before.
3. Many baking recipes call for eggs at room temperature, but this one calls for chilled eggs--added one at a time, another thing I'm not used to for brownies.
4. Alice's recipe is old-fashioned and precise: Beat vigorously 60 strokes. 

Like I said, I may have muffed it up by not browning the butter. We shall see.

Good night.