A while back I read that brownies made with cocoa instead of chocolate were superior, though I can't remember why. In this recipe, Alice Medrich writes: "Cocoa brownies have the softest center and chewiest candylike top 'crust' of all because all of the fat in the recipe (except for a small amount of cocoa butter in the cocoa) is butter, and all of the sugar is granulated sugar rather than the finely milled sugar used in chocolate." The top wasn't as crackly as promised, but the brownies were wonderfully fudgy.
Medrich also notes that any unsweetened Dutch-process or natural cocoa powder works well in the recipe -- natural cocoa (this is the kind you usually find in your supermarket) will produce more flavor complexity while Dutch-process has a mellower, old-fashioned chocolate pudding flavor. I went with a Ghirardelli natural cocoa powder, which gave the brownies a deep, bittersweet flavor.
