Condensed Milk and Browned Butter Brownies

Source: Alvin Zhou (adapted from Adam Ragusea) — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1xCU9ydG-A

Yield: 1 batch(es) — one 23cm square pan

Time: ~1 hour (plus cooling)

About

Ultra-fudgy brownies made with browned butter and sweetened condensed milk instead of sugar and eggs. The molasses creates a beautiful shiny skin on top. Spread thin — thicker than 1.5cm and the center goes mushy.

Key Technique: Boiling the cocoa in the browned butter briefly before adding the condensed milk deepens the chocolate flavor significantly.

Ingredients

• 113g unsalted butter
• 50g cocoa powder
• 396g sweetened condensed milk (1 can)
• 120g powdered sugar
• 10ml vanilla extract
• 10ml molasses (optional — omit or reduce if skin isn't forming)
• 1.5g salt (pinch — or ~3g Morton Kosher if using unsalted butter)
• 1 egg yolk
• 90g all-purpose flour
• 170g chocolate chips (optional)

Instructions

1. Prep

1. Preheat oven to 163°C.
2. Line a 23cm square pan with a parchment sling — batter is very sticky.

2. Brown Butter + Cocoa

1. Melt butter in a medium pot over medium heat. Stir as it browns to prevent milk solids from sticking.
2. When the butter is just starting to brown and smells like caramel, whisk in the cocoa powder.
3. Let the cocoa boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat.

3. Mix Batter

1. Whisk in sweetened condensed milk.
2. Whisk in powdered sugar until fully dissolved (the milk solids will still be visible — that's fine).
3. Whisk in salt, vanilla, and molasses.
4. Whisk in egg yolk.
5. Whisk in flour.
6. If adding chocolate chips, let the batter cool slightly first before folding them in, or they'll melt.

4. Bake

1. Pour batter into the prepared pan. It doesn't need to be perfectly level.
2. Spread to about 1.5cm thick — no thicker or the center will be mushy.
3. Bake 30–40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean (or slightly underdone for fudgy).
4. Let cool completely before cutting.

Tags: #recipe #american #dessert #brownies #chocolate