Name: Ralph Lauren's Brownies
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 235 min
Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour, weigh or measure with a light hand ((250 grams)); 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder; ½ teaspoon salt; 6 oz unsweetened chocolate (chopped (170 grams)); 2 sticks unsalted butter ((230 grams)); 3 cups sugar ((600 grams)); 6 large eggs; 1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract (I used cheap vanilla); 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts (plus more for garnish ); 6 tbsp. unsalted butter ((84 grams)); 4 oz. unsweetened chocolate (chopped, use good. (115 grams)); 6 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar (I recommend a little more); Pinch of salt; 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract; 4 tbsp. dark rum or brandy (56 ml)

There’s a new brownie recipe making the rounds, and it’s from Ralph Lauren's wife, Ricky. Featured in The Ladies Village Improvement Society Cookbook: Eating and Entertaining in East Hampton, the Lauren family calls these Nana’s Brownies because Ricky's mom used to make them for Ralph's birthday every October. So you could also call these Nana's Brownies or Ricky's Brownies, but for now we'll go with Ralph Lauren's Brownies to make them sound stylish!

They really do eat well in The Hamptons, and these brownies are indicative. They are fabulous! I was worried they’d be too boozy, but they are not. They’d still be very good without the rum, though I’d be inclined to use it again.

Ralph Lauren's Brownies are chewy/cakey on the outside and fudgy in the center with no dry parts. There's a good balance of fudgy and cakey so they are "in-between" brownies.

Rum Glaze

The glaze, however, is not that sweet. Or at least I didn't think so which is why I dumped confectioners' sugar all over the brownies. You could probably get away with using bittersweet or extra bittersweet chocolate in the glaze or just increasing the confectioners' sugar slightly (rather than dumping it on like I did). Either way, Ralph Lauren's brownies are good. I'm already looking forward to making a second batch for the neighbors.

Tips

Be sure to use the walnuts, the brownies aren't the same without them.
I made all of my batches with Ghirardelli unsweetened. The brand of chocolate may affect the results.
Don't over-bake -- these can go from perfect to dry pretty quickly. When you remove the thermometer it should still be climbing to 210 and not already at it.
For a half batch, 350 seems to work better.
The brownies are cakey/fudgy so again -- do not make if you want super fudgy brownies. The Bon Appetit version with bittersweet chocolate is more of a sure thing if fudgy is your goal. These are good because they are less sweet and more intensely chocolate.

Bon Appetit Version/Epicurious Version

Just so you know, there is a second version of the recipe that was published in Bon Appetit in 2015. It is a half batch version, but calls for bittersweet chocolate vs. unsweetened. I didn’t realize the bittersweet version existed until after I’d made the unsweetened version, and honestly that is probably for the best. I would have gone with the bittersweet version.

But of course I did try the bittersweet version -- the Nana's Brownies recipe from Epicurious. It is very similar, but (as mentioned) a half batch and calls for a few tablespoons of cocoa and bittersweet instead of unsweetened. The Epicurious version is great too, and sweeter. I feel like the version with unsweetened chocolate is a little more intense and interesting.

Nana's Brownies

Recipe