kick butt brownies

I bought a hand cranked pasta maker a while ago at Sur La Table, and it came with a free subscription to Gourmet Magazine. My impression of Gourmet had previously been that it was kind of old school (I was expecting "Grandmas Beef Brisket" type recipes), but we've been pleasantly surprised by the content. Last week we also received a free issue of Cooks Illustrated, which had a GREAT brownie recipe. It's done serious damage to my new weight loss scheme, but what the hell.

I have to admit that I didn't like Cooks Illustrated at all at first, because I avoid Molecular Gastronomy like the plague. I get enough science at work, thank you very much. On reading it more closely, I really like it. It has good recipes and lots of practical information.