Name: Mocha Brownies
Yield: Makes about 24 brownies
Ingredients: Nonstick vegetable oil spray; 8 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped; 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter; 2 cups sugar; 6 large eggs; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1/2 cup all-purpose flour; 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder; 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/4 cup sour cream; 3/4 cup chopped walnuts; Powdered sugar

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Mocha BrowniesNoel Barnhurst

In 1897, the Sears catalog offered its customers a treat called brownies. No one seems to remember whether they were bar cookies or a chocolate confection named after a popular cartoon character. No matter; by the 1900s the brownie as we now know it had arrived. The recipe for these dense, moist brownies is from Heather Ho, pastry chef at Boulevard in San Francisco.

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