Roasted Cherry Brownies

Yeah, I stole one before I took the picture. I had to make sure these were good before I blogged about them!

I had some trouble with these brownies. Specifically, I forgot to set a timer so I have no idea how long they baked for. Clearly, I was doing too many things in the kitchen at once. Normally, I have enough of a sense of time to be able to guess, but when I realized there was no timer running for these I truly had no clue how long it had been. When I examined them, I thought they might be nearly done, so I started setting the oven timer for 5-7 minutes at a time, checking them, and popping them back in the oven. After twenty plus minute of this, after they finally puffed up, I remembered what brownies look like when they're done and decided they were close. A few minutes later, I finally removed them out of sheer exhaustion. The bad news? They're a bit underdone. The good news? They're a bit underdone.

These brownies are deliciously fudgey and moist. The added moisture from the incomplete baking process is not a problem in my book. The cherries add a wonderful richness - the flavor manages to permeate most of the brownie (perhaps from the extra juice from roasting?). I take some credit here because out of the eight varieties of cherries we picked last week, I chose the richest ones for this recipe. The result is a moist, extremely chocolatey but richly fruity treat. Definitely a winner. I'm really sad I have to pack these into the freezer, since we're suffering (wink wink nudge nudge) from a surfeit of cherry-laden treats right now.

Roasted Cherry Brownies
Slightly adapted from Tracey's Culinary Adventures. 

2 c fresh cherries
1 1/4 c + 2 tbsp sugar, divided
5 oz bittersweet chocolate (I used my preferred chocolate chips - Ghirardelli 60% cacao)
2 oz unsweetened chocolate (I used some Scharffen Berger that I've been trying to get rid of - it's not my favorite chocolate because it has a strange fruity aftertaste, but I (correctly) assumed it would work well with actual fruit)
1/2 c butter, cut into 8 pieces
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Ghirardelli)
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 c flour

Preheat oven to 450° F. Line a small baking dish with foil. 

Halve and pit the cherries, then toss with 2 tbsp sugar. Spread inside the foil-lined baking dish.

Roast the cherries 9-10 minutes until they are softened and juicy. Set aside to cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 350° F.

Meanwhile, finely chop your chocolate (chocolate chip-sized pieces are fine) and combine with the butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water (I prefer to bring the water to a boil first, turn off the heat, and melt the butter and chocolate with the remaining steam). Stir with a rubber spatula until the butter and chocolate have melted and are well combined. Whisk in the cocoa powder, then set aside to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt. Slowly whisk in the cooled chocolate mixture until well combined. Fold in the flour with a rubber spatula, then carefully fold in cherries.

Transfer the batter to an 8 x 8" baking dish lined with foil (make sure the foil overhangs the edges for easy removal later). Bake 35-45 minutes, until tester comes out relatively clean (or leave a little underbaked, like me, and have super-fudgey brownies!). Remove to a wire rack and completely cool before cutting.

Dark and Milk Chocolate Brownies

This blog post is killing me. I really wanted to get a nice Valentine's Day recipe posted before the day, but writing about brownies while I'm fasting for Ash Wednesday is agonizing.

Fasting is not my cup of tea. I spend my whole day thinking about food, especially when I'm home by myself. I keep flicking my eyes up to the clock, wondering when it would be appropriate to have another snack. I snack a lot. Confining myself to three meals is really hard. Confining myself to two small meals and one regular-sized meal is even harder. Especially when that "regular-sized meal" is a bowl of butternut squash soup that probably doesn't top 250 calories.

I'd like my delicious brownies back, please.

Fortunately, I don't have to fast tomorrow. Tomorrow will be about chocolate hearts, Triumph Brewing Company and the secret treat I made for Jeff. I just have to get through tonight . . .

Maybe I'll stay up until midnight and have a snack then!

Dark and Milk Chocolate Brownies
From Baking Bites.

1/2 c butter, cut into chunks
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 c sugar (I ran out  of granulated sugar so I substituted light brown - I didn't notice a big difference)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 c flour
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c milk chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 350° F.

In a double boiler (aka a heatproof bowl set over boiling water), combine the butter and the unsweetened chocolate.

Melt the butter and chocolate together, stirring with a rubber spatula until they form a smooth mixture. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, prepare an 8 x 8" baking pan. (I lined mine with parchment paper, later using the overhangs to lift the brownies out, but I'm not sure they needed that treatment - cooking spray might work fine on its own.)

In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs and vanilla. Slowly pour in the chocolate mixture, whisking constantly, until smooth. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir until moistened. Stir in milk chocolate pieces.

Pour into prepared pan and bake 35-40 minutes, until set. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Slice when completely cooled.

Brownies . . . Just Brownies

Some days, a girl gets home from class and just wants to make some brownies. Yesterday, I gave in to that urge. It was awesome.

I love having a life where I have the freedom to just spend my afternoon baking. I just have to keep reminding myself that this shouldn't be at the expense of my actual work. Right now, it kinda is. (Truthfully, I'm avoiding actually beginning to write my dissertation. There seems to be such an awful finality to putting words down on a page, despite the ample opportunity for later revision. Baking just seems easier right now!)

The good thing about procrastinating with brownies (rather than, say, a brioche), is that they're quick, so there may be an opportunity to do real work once they're done. And they also satisfied my craving for something dense and fudgy. When I cut my first test slice, I have to admit I was skeptical - the edges of these brownies baked up a bit cakey, which is not my preference - but the middle proved nice and gooey (perhaps slightly underbaked? But underbaked can be awesome . . .). The next time I come home craving brownies, I'll definitely be turning to this recipe.

Double Chocolate Brownies
From the Southern Living: Secrets of the South Best Barbecue cookbook. My sister-in-law gave this to me for my bridal shower, and it's proved to be an excellent go-to book for all sorts of things, especially dessert. My favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe also comes from here!

1 c butter, softened

2 c sugar

4 eggs

1 c unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 c flour

1 c chocolate chips (I didn't have a full cup of regular-sized chips left, so I used a combo of those and tiny ones, which provided a nice bit of variety)

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Beat the butter in a stand mixer at medium speed until creamy. Add the sugar and cream together. Lower the speed and add the eggs, one at a time, beating until just blended.

Add the cocoa and vanilla. Beat on low speed for 1 minute until blended. Gradually add flour, beating well. Stir in chocolate chips.

Pour batter into a greased 13 x 9" baking pan. Bake 30-35 minutes (I put mine in for 35 minutes in the glass dish and got a goopy but stable middle - it might reach this stage more quickly if you use a metal pan). Cool completely before cutting into squares. (I totally sneaked a bite early, but it does pay to let the bulk of them cool, because then they don't stick to the knife.) Happy baking!