Brownies with Browned Butter Frosting

We're on spring break this week.  It is so, so refreshing.
It's been wonderful to spend lots of time with my sister Sarah, whom I hadn't really seen in nearly two years and her girls, who are 9 and 6, just right there with my kiddos.
It's so nice to see that even with two years of not seeing each other, the cousins love each other so dearly and have the time of their lives. They've had a couple of sleepovers at my parents' house and one at ours, and they're not tired of each other yet.  That's good.

I volunteered to make dessert for a family dinner last Friday night and was excited to have the chance to make these brownies. I found them when I was assigned to The Tasty Cheapskate for the Secret Recipe Club last month and they were immediately on my list of "Make Soon" desserts.

I'm so glad I made them.  Grant's verdict: His favorite brownie ever.
And that's no joke coming from Mr. Chocoholic himself.

You take a dense, fudgy brownie and cover it with a luscious browned butter frosting and top that with a dark chocolate glaze - I mean, it is hard to beat that.

The browned butter flavor is so interesting.  Members of the family were trying to guess what it was, and I got answers like mocha, caramel, and coconut.  But nobody was convinced that their guess was correct, they just didn't know what else to call that remarkable flavor.  If you've never tried browned butter, you just have to try these brownies.  Seriously.  Just try them.

Brownies with Browned Butter Frosting 
adapted slightly from The Tasty Cheapskate

Brownie:
1/2 cup butter
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate (I used Bakers)
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup flour
1 tsp. vanilla

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tsp. vanilla

Glaze:
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate (or 2 ounces unsweetened, 2 ounces semi-sweet)
3 Tbsp. butter

Heat oven to 300°F.  Butter a 13 x 9 " pan and set aside.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate.  Remove from heat and cool.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat sugar, eggs, and salt on medium speed for 6-8 minutes, until fluffy and thick.  Fold in the chocolate, then flour and vanilla.

Pour into the pan and bake for 30-33 minutes, until a toothpick comes out nearly clean.
Cool completely.

To prepare frosting, melt the butter on low heat until it browns.  The butter will melt, reduce in volume, get foamy and slowly start to change color.  There will be some dark flecks in the bottom of the pan.  You want the butter to get to a nice caramel color and smell nutty.  Swirl the pan or stir it so it doesn't burn.  When it gets sufficiently browned, which may take 10-20 minutes, depending on how high your heat is (and I recommend medium heat at the most...you don't want to burn it!), give it a minute to cool then pour into a bowl.   Beat in the sugar, cream, and vanilla.

Frost the brownie layer.  Let cool for at least 15 minutes.

To prepare the glaze, melt the chocolate and butter in a small pan on very low heat.  Pour over the icing layer and gently spread it by tipping the pan back and forth.
Let it cool and set up for about an hour, then cut the brownies into squares.