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1
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
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2
Lightly coat a baking pan with cooking spray.
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3
In a small saucepan, combine the butter and chopped chocolate and set over very low heat until melted.
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4
Stir the mixture and set aside to cool.
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5
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
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6
Measure the sugar into the large bowl of an electric mixer and beat in the cooled butter-chocolate mixture.
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7
Add the egg plus whites, vanilla, and water and beat well.
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Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until blended.
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Don't overbeat.
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The batter will be thick.
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Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and bake for 22 to 25 minutes; 23 minutes is usually right for me.
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12
When done, the top will look dry and a wooden pick inserted near the edge will come out with a few crumbs but the center will look slightly gooey.
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Cool in the pan and cut into squares.
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14
I have been trying for a couple of years to produce a brownie worthy of the name with less fat and less solid chocolate.
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15
My taste testers finally agree that this is it - a great brownie they would never suspect of being lower in anything.
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16
I have cut the classic 58 percent down to 31 percent calories from fat and eliminated 87 calories, 10 g fat, and 22 mg cholesterol from each brownie.
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17
When traditional proportions are disrupted, textures become moist and cakey at best or dry, insipid, and tough at worst.
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One rule emerges clearly: The fewer ingredients, the better the brownie.
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Avoid the usual low-fat stand-ins: applesauce, yogurt, corn syrup, canola oil.
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20
Use butter, but less, and replace most of the solid chocolate with rich-tasting Dutch-processed cocoa; retain at least 1 ounce of solid chocolate, however, for a more complex chocolate taste.
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21
A few tricks: Cake flour produced a more tender crumb than all-purpose, and melting the butter with the chocolate, as opposed to creaming the solid butter with the sugar, gave a fudgier crumb.
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22
A touch of baking powder seems to enhance the crunch of the top crust.
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23
Faced with the choice of adding high-fat chopped nuts or keeping the 1/4 cup butter, there was no contest; nuts put us over the top in fat content.
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24
However, if you feel deprived without them, sprinkle about 3 tablespoons of finely chopped walnuts on top before baking; the changes are modest: 33 percent calories from fat, plus 9 calories and 1 g fat per brownie.
