If you love intensely chocolatey desserts with a rich, gooey, fudgy texture, this French inspired pecan brownie is just for you. Made with dark chocolate, toasted pecans, and, the holy grail, butter, it will not fail you in your times of need for chocolatey goodness.
What does this brownie deliver? You may be asking yourself, well:
- Rich dark chocolate flavor,
- Fudgy center with crisp edges that crack at the bite
- Toasted pecans for extra crunch and some sultriness
- It’s quick and easy to make!
- Beautifully served with coffee or vanilla ice cream and berries
Ingredients
For an 8-inch, 20cm pan
- 150g dark chocolate (60% – 70%)
- 150g unsalted butter
- 60g (or 2) egg yolks
- 50g brown sugar
- 50g white sugar #1
- 70g (or 3) egg whites
- 60g white sugar #2
- 50g flour
- 10g unsweetened cacao powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 100g pecans
Equipment
- 8-inch baking pan, square, round, or any other fun shape you may have laying aroudn
- Mixing bowl
- A stand or hand mixer
- Whisk
- Spatula
- Parchment paper
Check out my article on essential baking tools for more information on key equipment for French baking.
Instructions
1. Prepare your pecans
Note: Although the recipe calls for 100g of pecans, do not hesitate to substitute it for other nuts you may prefer, or use a mix! Try it out using 30g of toasted pecans, 30g of toasted almonds, and 30g of toasted hazelnuts.
Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread your pecans out evenly on your baking sheet, and bake for about 10 minutes.
The pecans should have a light roast to them and have darkened slightly when you break them open.
Crush the pecans into about bean or pea sized pieces.
1 1/2. Prepare your oven for baking
Lower the oven heat to 320°F.
2. Melt the chocolate and butter
Use a double boiler, or a microwave, to gently melt your roughly chopped or broken chocolate with the butter until smooth, then leave it aside to let it cool slightly.
3. Mix your yolks
Whisk the egg yolks, the brown sugar, and the white sugar #1 (50g) by hand in a mixing bowl until you get a fluffy beige-ish mixture.
4. Mix in the chocolate
Slowly pour the melted chocolate and butter into your egg yolk mixture, make sure to keep whisking as you pour in the chocolate so as to not cook your egg yolks from the heat!
5. Add in the dry ingredients
Mix in the flour, cocoa powder, and salt using your spatula.
6. Whisk up a French Meringue
Using your stand mixer, or hand mixer, whisk the egg whites on medium speed until they’re foamy and have started to thicken. Gradually add in the white sugar #2 (60g) while continuing to whisk on low to medium speed.
When you’ve added all the sugar, whisk on medium to high speed until your egg whites become thick, shiny, and solid but smooth when you raise your whisk out of the mixture.
For more guidance on how to whisk a perfect French meringue, check out this article.
7. Mix it all together
Gradually incorporate your French meringue into the chocolate mixture into 2 to 3 chunks. Do not incorporate the meringue completely until you add in the final chunk. In other words, the mix should keep a marble look until the very last of the meringue has been added, then mixed into one homogeneous color. Don’t overmix, this will keep your brownie airy and decadent.
Not mixing the meringue completely into the mixture as you add it bit by bit prevents manipulating the egg whites too much, causing them to lose volume and fluffiness.
8. Add the pecans
Add your roughly chopped up pecans (or other various nuts) and use your spatula to mix them in gently.
9. Bake
Pour your batter into your buttered pan and bake for 35-40 minutesm until the edges are set bu the center is still soft.
10. Cool before slicing
Allow the brownies to cool completely before cutting for the cleanest slice and fudgiest texture.
Tips for brownie success
- Do indulge in the toasting of the pecans or nuts, this will significantly enhance their flavor and bring a little extra punch to your brownie.
- Avoid overmixing your meringue!
- For extra fudginess, remove the brownies from the oven when a few moist crumbs still cling to a toothpick or knife poked in the center.
- Although it’s hard, let them cool fully before slicing
Storage
- Room temperature: Up to 3 days in an airtight container
- Fridge: Up to 1 week
- Freezer: Wrap individual pieces and freeze for up to 2 months
