You know the gooey, center-of-the-tray brownie that everyone fights over? Bunny of Café Marie-Jeanne has a recipe for making a whole batch of those. Her moist, fudgy brownies owe their richness to plenty of butter, eggs, and crème fraîche — and a finishing drizzle of olive oil, which lends a subtle grassy top note.
Bunny’s Olive-Oil-Drizzled Brownies
Yield:1 pan
Active Time:20 minutes
Total time:45 minutes
| 4 oz. | Dark chocolate, cut into large chunks |
| 7 Tbsp. | Butter |
| 4 | Eggs |
| ⅓ cup | Crème fraîche or sour cream |
| ¾ cup plus 2 Tbsp. | Sugar |
| 1 Tbsp. | Vanilla extract |
| ¾ cup plus 2 Tbsp. | All-purpose flour |
| 5 Tbsp. | Cocoa powder |
| Butter for greasing | |
| ¾ cup | Toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped |
| High-quality extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling |
Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler, then remove from heat and let cool slightly. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the crème fraîche, ¾ cup of the sugar, and vanilla until combined.
Add the butter and chocolate into the egg mixture and whisk until well blended.
Sift the flour and 3 tablespoons of the cocoa powder; mix in a large bowl.
Create a well in the flour-cocoa mixture, pour in the wet ingredients, and mix until just combined.
Grease a 9-by-12-inch pan and dust with remaining cocoa powder. Mix excess powder into the batter.
Pour batter into the pan, and sprinkle with remaining sugar.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, checking frequently after 15 minutes for doneness. (Remove from oven when brownies are still slightly gooey in the center, but are no longer runny.)
Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool.
Dust brownies with extra sugar and cocoa if desired, and cut into squares. To serve, sprinkle each brownie with hazelnuts and drizzle generously with olive oil.