Every Christmas, my husband’s coworker’s wife generously sends us a box of homemade cookies and brownies. My favorite treat is always her macadamia nut brownies – rich, chocolatey, with a wonderful crunch from generous chunks of buttery macadamias. This recipe is inspired by her delicious brownies and is my own little tribute to them.
Since I don’t have her exact recipe, I put my own spin on it using my favorite brownie recipe as a base. I replaced the oil and butter with brown butter for a subtle toffee-like note that enhances the rich chocolate flavor, then folded in a generous cup of macadamia nuts to recreate the crunch I loved so much.
Key ingredients
I think whole macadamias are key to creating that perfect crunch. But macadamias are very expensive, let alone whole macadamias! Trader’s Joe carries whole macadamias, but for a more affordable alternative, I recommend checking out Sprouts bulk nut section.
I usually buy raw macadamias from Sprouts for most of my macadamia recipes but this time I noticed the roasted unsalted macadamias have much larger chunks and even some whole nuts in the mix for the same price. So I just bought a few scoops and picked out the largest pieces for these macadamia brownies. Even if you end up using chopped pieces, it will still be delicious.
Other key ingredients…
- I used 72% dark chocolate chips in this recipe for a more intense chocolate flavor. If you use anything lower than this, your brownies will be sweeter.
- Again, for a more intense chocolate flavor, I used Dutch-process cocoa powder in the batter.
How to make it + tips
1. First, brown the butter
Alright, if you are not looking for it, the brown butter flavor may not be super noticeable underneath the rich dark chocolate. But hear me out, when I tested my salted miso caramel brownies, I found the version with brown butter to be more mellow and complex. Both are good, though I do think it’s worth the extra 8-10 minutes! Don’t let the brown butter cool completely, you’ll want to use it still warm.
2. Bloom the cocoa with boiling water
Blooming cocoa powder with hot water helps intensify the chocolate flavor by releasing the cocoa’s flavor compounds. This helps make these brownies so much more chocolatey even though we are not using a huge amount of cocoa or chocolate chips in the recipe.
3. Add chocolate chips
The chocolate chips should mostly melt, the rest will be melted in the next step when you add warm brown butter.
4. Add warm brown butter
When you whisk this mixture, it may look a bit separated, that’s okay. Once we add the eggs in the next step, everything will emulsify nicely.
5. Add eggs and vanilla
6. Add sugar
7. Fold in the dry ingredients
Don’t overmix here.
8. Transfer to a lined pan and bake
Don’t overbake or you’ll end up with dry brownies. When you check for doneness, the inserted toothpick shouldn’t come out bone dry, it should still have a few moist crumbs stuck to it. I preferred slightly underbaked brownies for a more moist and fudgy texture.
That’s all, enjoy!
Hungry for more?
Brown Butter Brownies with Macadamia Nuts
Equipment
- Square Baking Pan
Ingredients
- 4 oz (113 g) unsalted butter, brown
- ¾ cup (101 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (3 g) kosher salt
- ⅔ cup (114 g) dark chocolate chips, 72% cocoa, divided
- 1 cup (140 g) macadamia nuts
- ¼ cup (24 g) cocoa powder, dutch-processed preferred
- 5 tablespoon (67 g) boiling water
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (225 g) + 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
- Extra melted butter for pan
Instructions
- Preheat the oven – Set the oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F (180°C).
- Prepare the baking pan – Brush melted butter all over an 8”x8” square baking pan. Line it with a piece of square parchment paper large enough to cover the bottom and the sides, fold excess parchment paper over the sides and use metal clips to secure if necessary.Extra melted butter for pan
- Brown the butter – Place the butter in a light colored saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter melts, it will become foamy. When the foam subsides, you will see clear bubbles, start whisking continuously at this point to keep the milk solids from burning. When the butter is caramel in color and smells nutty, remove from heat and set aside, but don’t let it cool completely.4 oz unsalted butter
- Mix dry ingredients together – Sift flour into a medium mixing bowl, stir in salt and ½ cup (86g) of dark chocolate chips along with the macadamia nuts. Set aside.¾ cup all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ⅔ cup dark chocolate chips, 1 cup macadamia nuts
- Bloom the cocoa – In a large heat proof mixing bowl, add boiling water to cocoa powder and stir to dissolve completely.¼ cup cocoa powder, 5 tablespoon boiling water
- Add chocolate chips – Immediately add the remaining chocolate chips (28 g) to the still warm cocoa powder mixture and stir to melt.⅔ cup dark chocolate chips
- Pour in brown butter – Slowly pour in warm brown butter, including all the brown milk solid, and stir to incorporate. Any chocolates that haven’t melted in the previous step should melt completely now.4 oz unsalted butter
- Add eggs and vanilla – Add the egg, and egg yolk along with the vanilla extract, and beat until smooth.1 large egg, 1 large egg yolk, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Add sugar – Add sugar and beat again until completely incorporated.1 cup + 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
- Incorporate dry ingredients – Add the dry ingredient mixture prepared earlier into the wet ingredients. Fold gently with a spatula until combined and no trace of flour remains.
- Bake – Transfer the brownie batter to the prepared baking pan. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 30 – 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownie comes out almost clean with just a few crumbs attached.
- Cool – Remove the brownie from the oven and let cool on a wire rack completely before cutting and serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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