Fat Witch Brownies: Brownies, Blondies, and Bars from New York's Legendary Fat Witch Bakery [Hardcover]

Patricia Helding (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 14, 2010

At long last, the owner of New York City’s legendary Fat Witch Bakery shares her top-secret recipes for decadent and delicious brownies, blondies, and bars

Patricia Helding’s rich, intensely chocolatey Fat Witch brownie is a New York obsession, an internet sensation, and arguably the very best brownie to be found on the planet. Unlike other bakeries that feature a range of desserts, Fat Witch, launched by Helding in 1998, specializes only in brownies—baking and selling over 2,000 each day. In Fat Witch Brownies, Helding showcases for the first time her favorite spins on the classic chocolate brownie with creations like the Banana Bread Brownie and the Breakfast Brownie, and she expands her repertoire even further with recipes for other scrumptious bar-shaped confections.

With over 50 recipes that can be baked in the same 9 x 9-inch pan and require fewer than 10 ingredients, Helding shows that baking from scratch is neither expensive nor time-consuming. All of her recipes include ingredients from local grocery stores, and are ready to serve in one hour or less. Beginning with tips on the proper tools, timing, and techniques, continuing with five chapters of recipes, and finishing with fabulous frostings, Fat Witch Brownies allows you to explore the versatility and richness of brownies and bars and create the incredible desserts in your very own kitchen that have made Helding’s bakery famous.

 

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

PATRICIA HELDING is the owner of Fat Witch Bakery, which she launched in 2001 in a small space in Chelsea Market. She has appeared on The Food Network, Oprah, CBS, CNN, and MTV, and has been featured in several national publications. She lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Rodale Books (September 14, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9781605295749
• ISBN-13: 978-1605295749
• ASIN: 1605295744
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 0.6 x 7.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (77 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #222,748 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

174 of 179 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Not The Actual Recipes October 14, 2010

By Nyc Doll

Format:Hardcover

Let me start out by saying that being a New Yorker, I've visited the Fat Witch Bakery more times than I can count or remember. If I haven't strolled into the store to buy their treats, or sent my husband there on a 911 dessert emergency, I've had them delivered to my apartment by messenger. I could pick out a Fat Witch brownie from a lineup, blindfolded. So, to say I know them well is an understatement :) This is a beautifully produced, photographed, and written book - one that I've been anxiously awaiting so that I can replicate the Fat Witch brownie magic at home. However, much like a previous reviewer said, all of the recipes I have tried (and I'm a very experienced home baker) produce cake-like brownies and are very much UNlike the actual dense and rich Fat Witch brownies/blondies from the bakery. It's evident that Patricia Helding guards her recipes and ingredients well - you'll never find an ingredient list for any of her bars on the bakery's website... they are only printed on a tiny label that is affixed to each treat, almost as if they don't want anyone to actually read them. After having tried numerous recipes from the book, and two of the recipes twice over using different methods each time, it makes me think that none of the recipes will replicate the Fat Witch bakery's products, nor are they the same recipes that the bakery uses. This is a great dessert bar cookbook if you have no interest in mimicking Fat Witch brownies. In my mind, the reason professional bakeries and restaurants release cookbooks is so that home cooks can recreate their favorite dishes and desserts for their own family and friends. I've never come across another restaurant/bakery cookbook that comes as far away from the original dishes/desserts as this one... it makes me absolutely irate that Patricia Helding acts like she's opening up the vault, and all she's doing is publishing a set of bar recipes that bear little to no resemblance to what has made her bakery so famous.

103 of 108 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Recipes produce cake-like brownies September 28, 2010

By K. Schumann

Format:Hardcover

I saw this book at a local bookstore and just had to have it because of the cute name. Plus I love brownies. Call it a weakness.

I love that the recipes all use the same pan size (9x9) and simple ingredients. That's a bonus. The instructions are also easy to understand. Another plus.

Yesterday I gathered all of the ingredients for the original Fat Witch Brownie (including the recommended chocolate chips) and made a batch. The house smelled heavenly. When I took the brownies out of the oven they were very puffy but they did deflate during the cooling process to form some cracks along the top. No problem.

I practiced self control and waited until the brownies were completely cool before cutting. Well, they were ok but they were certainly not like the ones in the picture and I'm guessing they're not like the ones in the bakery.

The flavor was ok but the brownies were closer to cake than brownie. I searched online for blogs and other reviews and this seemed to be a common occurence. I could not find one person who had made the recipe with the result of a dense brownie like the Fat Witch Bakery.

Some issues that may be causing problems: 1) using a mixer to incorporate ingredients 2) using 4 eggs

I've never been to Fat Witch Bakery so I can only compare my results to the pictures in the book and reviews that I've read about the bakery brownies. These are not it according to people who tried the recipe and have had the original. Sorry.

But if you take it for what it is instead of thinking of it as a brownie, it has a decent flavor. Just don't expect a dense, fudge-like brownie. Do expect a cake-like texture and good chocolate flavor.

If anyone else has had the same experience I would like to know. Heck, if you've had them come out perfect I would like to know. It's not likely but perhaps I did something wrong. The recipe is not difficult to follow.

I regret that I can not give it a higher rating but I was disappointed with the results.

The book itself is cute and has stories with each recipe and great photos. The recipe results are just ok. Nothing outstanding. And I'm sorry to have to say that because I wanted to love this book.

UPDATE: (9-28-10) I just made a batch of the cocoa brownies. Same issue. The brownies are cake-like instead of dense. I followed the recipe to the letter. I mixed the ingredients by hand instead of with a mixer. It's disappointing because the brownies in the pictures look so good!

UPDATE: (9-30-10) OK, I'm starting to feel like I'm beating a dead horse but I called the bakery and told them that I was making brownies from the cookbook and wanted to know if the results are supposed to be cake-like or more dense. The lady at the bakery said they are supposed to be more dense than cakey. That's just not the result that these recipes yield. Some may prefer it that way. It's not my brownie of choice though.

54 of 57 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed October 12, 2010

By M. Hill TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

I bake a great deal and was looking forward to trying the Fat Witch Brownies from the bakery in New York City. First, I tried the signature recipe "Fat Witch Brownies." A few alarm bells went off as I read through the recipe. Four large eggs for a nine by nine inch pan of brownies, yet only one half plus two tablespoons bittersweet chocolate chips for the chocolate. Plus one and one quarter cup sugar when the chocolate is already sweetened. Too many eggs, too little chocolate and too much sugar but since these are the famous brownies I followed the instructions to the letter and hoped for the best.

The brownies baked up fine and looked exactly the picture in the book. The toothpick inserted came out clean -- they were clearly completely cooked, but after waiting an hour for them to cool I found the texture was strange. The brownie was not cakey or fudgy, it was rather gelatinous -- like a thick pecan pie filling. It cut perfectly and looked fudgy, but it was kind of creepy once in the mouth and the chocolate flavor was weak and the brownie too sweet. I immediately wondered if this is really the bakery's brownie recipe or if something was lost in converting it for home use.

Since the brownie didn't have a strong chocolate flavor I next baked the "Intense Chocolate Brownie." This recipe contains considerably more chocolate and only two eggs. The finished texture is closer to a fudgy brownie and it is acceptable but not good enough for me to stray from my long time favorite brownie recipe. Also, the recipe had a small error in it. The ingredients call for baking powder but the instructions don't mention incorporating it. Most people will know to include it with the dry ingredients, but if just reading the instructions one might forget to add it.

The construction of the book is good. The pages are good quality paper with a shiny finish so spills should wipe up easily. The fractions noted in the listing of ingredients are in too small a font making it hard to read particularly if the book is laying on a counter. The small hardback book lays open well on the countertop so a cookbook holder isn't a necessity. No nutritional information is included.

I approached the book in a positive way but overall I am not impressed with the brownie results and have no desire to try any more recipes in the book. At best I found the two recipes I prepared mediocre and at worst, weird.