BuzzFeed’s ultimate brownies, in metric

I really like BuzzFeed’s ultimate brownie recipe, but every time I make it, I find myself doing mental gymnastics to convert from American measurements (cups and sticks) to real (metric) measurements. To save myself that difficultly next time, I decided to convert it once and for all, and publish it here.

Ingredients

• 284g unsalted butter, plus more, softened, for greasing
• 227g good-quality semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (60-70% cacao), roughly chopped
• 128g unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder, divided
• 1 tablespoon espresso powder
• 402g granulated sugar
• 110g dark brown sugar, packed
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 6 large eggs
• 128g all-purpose flour
• Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling

Directions

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F (180°C/gas mark 4). Grease a 9x13-inch dark metal pan with softened butter, then line with parchment paper, leaving overhang on all sides. Grease the parchment with softened butter.

Combine the chopped chocolate, ⅓ of the cocoa powder (43g), and espresso powder in a heatproof liquid measuring cup or medium bowl and set aside.

Add the butter to a small saucepan over medium heat and cook until the butter just comes to a vigorous simmer, about 5 minutes, swirling the pan occasionally. Immediately pour the hot butter over the chocolate mixture and let sit for 2 minutes. Whisk until the chocolate is completely smooth and melted, then set aside.

Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, salt, and eggs in a large bowl. Beat with an electric hand mixer on high speed until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. It will be similar to the texture of very thick pancake batter.

With the mixer on, pour in the slightly cooled chocolate and butter mixture and blend until smooth.

Sift in the flour and remaining 85g cocoa powder and use a rubber spatula to gently fold until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake until lightly puffed on top, about 20 minutes.

Remove the baking pan from the oven using oven mitts or kitchen towels, then lightly drop the pan on a flat surface 1-2 times until the brownies deflate slightly. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt.

Return the pan to the oven and bake until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the brownies comes out fudgy but the edges look cooked through, about 20 minutes more. The center of the brownies will seem under-baked, but the brownies will continue to set as they cool.

Set the brownies on a cooling rack and cool completely in the pan.

Use the parchment paper to lift the cooled brownies out of the pan. Cut into 24 bars and serve immediately.