Brownie Thins

Name: Brownie Thins
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces; 2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped; 0.5 cup sugar; 1 large egg; 3 tbsp plus 1 teaspoon all purpose flour; 0.25 tsp vanilla extract; 0.25 tsp almond extract; 1 pinch coarse kosher salt; 1 Nonstick vegetable oil spray; 0.25 cup chopped pistachios

From the kitchen of Carly

Impossibly thin and crispy brownie rounds that shatter on your tongue, spiked with almond extract and topped with chopped pistachios. These aren't your dense fudgy brownies. They're addictive little chocolate wafers that taste like concentrated chocolate bliss in bite-sized form.

Chewy brownie wafers with serious chocolate depth and the grace note of pistachio and almond. The secret is the plastic wrap trick, which presses each cookie flat and thin without a rolling pin or extra mess. They're done in seven minutes, which means you can make them twice before lunch.

Prep: n/a
Cook: n/a
Total: n/a
Servings: 4
Difficulty: medium

Ingredients

4 servings

6 tbspunsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 ozunsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 cupsugar
1 largeegg
3 tbspplus 1 teaspoon all purpose flour
1/4 tspvanilla extract
1/4 tspalmond extract
1 pinchcoarse kosher salt
1Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1/4 cupchopped pistachios

Instructions

Set a rack in the lowest third of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Combine the butter and chopped chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl and microwave on medium-high power until almost completely melted, about 1 minute. Whisk until glossy and smooth, then add the sugar and egg and whisk again for about 1 minute. Stir in the flour, both extracts, and salt, mixing just until blended. Leave the batter to rest for 10 minutes.
Grease 2 baking sheets with butter. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls of batter onto the prepared sheets, 12 per sheet, spaced well apart. Lightly coat a sheet of plastic wrap with nonstick spray and lay it sprayed-side down over the cookies. Use your fingers to press each mound into a 2 1/2- to 2 3/4-inch round, then peel away the plastic. Scatter the chopped pistachios over each round. Bake one sheet at a time until the edges have deepened in color and the centers feel firm, about 7 minutes. Let the cookies sit on the sheet for 2 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely. Stored in an airtight container at room temperature, they keep for up to 5 days.

Tips from the kitchen

Microwave the butter and chocolate together, then whisk hard once it's melted. You're looking for a completely smooth base, not streaky.
Let the batter rest for the full ten minutes. It firms up enough to scoop and press without spreading everywhere during that rest.
Press the cookies thin and even under the plastic wrap using your fingers, not a glass or the palm of your hand. Your fingertips give you better control.

Variations

Skip the pistachio and use the same amount of finely chopped toasted hazelnuts or chopped dark chocolate chips instead.
Add a small pinch of cayenne pepper to the batter for a subtle heat that plays off the chocolate and almond.
Press the cookies thicker (around 3 inches) and bake for an extra minute or two if you want them fudgier in the middle.

Make ahead and storage

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days. These don't freeze well because of their delicate, thin structure.