Triple Chocolate Brownies 2.19 Teach Me Tonight

“Well, you probably have a diner full of people who would love these brownies – plus, I bet they’d pay you for ‘em.” “Well, I accidentally dropped triple the amount of cocoa powder in the batter so I either had to dump the batch or find someone with some sort of superhuman chocolate tolerance – only one name came to mind.” “God, I love being special.”

Ingredients:

• ½ cup butter, softened

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 2 eggs

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

• ½ tsp baking powder

• ¼ tsp salt

• ½ cup dark chocolate chips

• ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

• ½ cup espresso chocolate chips

• ¼ cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

• ¼ tsp pink Himalayan salt (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2. In a large mixing bowl, mix the butter and sugar together until creamy and smooth.

3. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.

4. Add in the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix until smooth.

5. Fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts until fully incorporated.

6. Spread the brownie batter into a greased 9x9 in pan.

7. Sprinkle pink Himalayan salt across the top of the brownies.

8. Bake at 375 for about 35-38 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

I know it's tempting to eat the batter by the spoonful- but refrain!

I had a hard time deciding if I was going to make Luke’s triple the amount of cocoa powder brownies or Jess’s ice cream in cooooones for this episode, so I asked my Instagram followers to vote on what I should make and the brownies won out! However, I am interested in learning how to make my own ice cream cones, so that might come back around in the future! I decided to amp up the idea of triple chocolate brownies to use three different kinds of chocolate for these brownies instead of just tripling the amount of cocoa powder because that didn’t actually sound all that appealing to me. After all, my project is to make dishes inspired by each episode, not necessarily exact replicates.

You could use any three types of chocolate chips that you prefer!

I used a combination of dark, semi-sweet, and espresso chocolate chips. When I found the espresso chocolate chips at the grocery store, I knew I had to grab them for these brownies! What could be better for Gilmore Girls-inspired brownies? Some chopped walnuts create a nice texture in these brownies, and I’m pretty sure you can spot some walnuts in the brownie that Lorelai tries on the show. I love adding pink Himalayan salt on top of my chocolate chip cookies, so I thought it would add a nice flavor profile to these brownies. Finishing your baked goods off with salt may sound odd, but it helps to cut through the sweetness and adds complexity to the treat.

Prepare to have your house smelling heavenly while these brownies bake.

There’s a lot to talk about with this episode. This is the episode where Luke asks Rory to tutor Jess (hence the triple chocolate brownies) and they end up getting in the car accident. Before I talk about the wreck, I want to talk about why Rory is tutoring Jess in the first place. I don’t think tutoring is the move that Jess needs. He’s clearly smart, he’s just bored in school and doesn’t want to do the homework. While I think this is a good way to get Rory and Jess to spend time together, it’s not that believable that Jess needs to be tutored, though that could just be what Luke thinks he needs.

I know that the writers didn’t want to make Jess the cause for the accident so that it wouldn’t be a problem when Rory gets with him later in the show, but it bothers me that his reckless driving isn’t the problem. There are so many times when you think they’re going to get into an accident when you see them in the car that when we find out it was swerving to avoid hitting an animal, it just seems a little unbelievable.

If you don't have a 9x9 in pan, you can use a different size, just cook for less time for larger pans.

After the car accident, Luke and Lorelai get into a huge fight. I always like when the conflicts on this show are dynamic enough where both sides seem valid. While I think both Luke and Lorelai overreact in this scene, I can completely understand both sides of their fight. Both of them are scared about their kid getting hurt. Right after the fight, Lorelai sees the damaged car and it looks like someone could have died in it. I think they should have given Rory a slightly worse injury than just a fractured wrist. It would make more sense for Lorelai to be worried about Rory and spend the night in her room and for Chis to come into town if Rory’s injury was worse. Even if her arm was just broken, their reactions would have made a little more sense.

You'll know your brownies are done when an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

The episode ends with a film by Kirk. Out of all the jobs Kirk has, filmmaker is my favorite. There’s just something so funny about how seriously he takes the filmmaking process. The line about him being able to edit out two of the hells but needing to keep all of the damns for a street cred thing always makes me laugh. Plus, we get to see Kirk’s sweet dance moves. I’m so glad we get the sequel to a film by Kirk in A Year in the Life. Let me know what your favorite Kirk job is down below!

Happy Cooking!

Enjoy your brownies as they are or a la mode!

If you missed what I made last episode, catch up here!