Butterscotch cocoa brownies

I fucking love brownies. I mean seriously, look how many recipes I've done:

Double chocolate brownies

Butterscotch brownies

Plumb good brownies

Red velvet cheesecake brownies

Brownies with espresso cream cheese espresso frosting, oreos, and sea salt

S'mores brownies

Peppermint bark brownies

Nutella brownies

So... Yeah. And that doesn't even include the countless Costco-sized boxes of Ghirardelli's double chocolate brownies. And the occasional Pillsbury. Jeeeeze, I'm getting hungry just thinking about them...

And here's the best part of it all: these brownies are my new favorite. Better than Plumb good brownies. Better than nutella brownies. Better then every brownie recipe prior to this. They're so gooey and fudgey and I just looove the addition of the butterscotch chips. So basically: go make these. Now. No, not in an hour. Not tomorrow. Now.

It's recipes like these that make me want to open up my own bakery one day...

For the brownies:

10 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups sugar

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs, cold

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2/3 cup butterscotch chips

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.

Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and microwave for 1:30 minutes. Remove and stir until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth. Set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot. It looks fairly gritty at this point, but don’t fret — it smoothes out once the eggs and flour are added.

Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in the butterscotch chips, if using. Spread evenly in the lined pan.

Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack.

Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.

Recipe adapted from honey & jam