Super Fudgy Date Brownies by Jake Cohen

(not pictured: a few dozen more!)

Welcome to Cookbook Club! I am an avid collector. I shamelessly read cookbooks way more than novels, magazines,... the news. I have more recipes in my possession than I could ever possibly make, but somehow, always make room for more. I don’t know when Jake Cohen started to appear on my Instagram feed but, after making his coconut macaroon brownies, I quickly added his newest book “I Could Nosh” to my Amazon cart, and have been eating my way through it since. I declare each new recipe that I try, my new favorite. And so it goes. These brownies are insane, in the best way. The recipe calls for date syrup, which I didn’t have, so I subbed maple syrup… next time I will buy the date syrup…maple worked just fine, but I still want to experience the brownies in all of their date glory!

Ingredients:

8 ounces of dark chocolate, chopped (preferably a bar that is at least 70% cacao)

4 ounces/ one stick unsalted butter/ vegan butter cut into small pieces

1 1/2 cups (300 g) granulated sugar

1/4 cup date syrup (sub maple syrup)

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 tsp Kosher salt

1 tsp pink Himalayan salt (my preference, optional)

1 cup (135 g) all purpose flour

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

16 super soft Medjool dates, pitted (if your dates are not soft, you can soak in hot water for ten minutes)

Flaky Maldon salt for topping, optional...but you should

Line a 9 inch square baking dish with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt the butter and chopped chocolate bar together in a medium sauce pan over medium heat, stirring often until melted and combined. Remove from heat. (Jake’s method is to melt using a double boiler, so either route works).

In a large mixing bowl, add the sugar, syrup of choice, and eggs and whisk well to fully combine. Next whisk in the cocoa powder, vanilla and salt. Make sure the batter is smooth and well distributed before adding the melted butter/ chocolate mixture. Continue to whisk until there are no streaks. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the flour, without over mixing. Next, fold in the chocolate chips. Spread the batter evenly into the baking dish. Attempt to make 4 rows, of 4 dates each, across the top of the batter. The goal is for each brownie to have its own date. Sprinkle the top with the flaky salt of your choice, or omit.

Per the recipe, bake for 40 minutes. I like to begin checking around 30 minutes, to see if the top is crackly at all yet. Once baked and removed from the oven, allow to fully cool in the pan. For the cleanest slices, chill the pan in the fridge for up to 4 hours. But really, who is going to wait that long?!

Slice into 16 pieces or just stick your fork in. Don't share with anyone! These are excellent to keep wrapped up in the freezer (under the frozen peas where no one will ever look).