these might be the perfect brownie.
yes yes, the oreo brownies ROCK MY WORLD and the chocolate-ginger brownies are unexpected and lovely, but for a classic brownie, these are just awesome. they are just the right amount of fudgy and they have that perfect shiny, thinly crisp top. my mom (aka “mahm”) sent me her recipe for spicy mexican brownies a while back and i played with it a bit to get the shiny top (fave) and then added the dark chocolate because IT’S AWESOME. and i am pretty sure she approves, since she is the one who passed on to me the love of dark chocolate. (of course you can use bittersweet or milk chocolate if you’re not a fan of the dark.. and you can come to me for counseling, if so.)
if you aren’t into spicy things like i am or have little ones, you can omit the cayenne pepper. but instead of omitting it altogether, i have come up with a solution. i have 2 little girls who love chocolate mayyybe more than i do so i make it like this: i mix everything but the cayenne, pour half the batter into an 8×8 dish, then whisk in 1/4 tsp cayenne to the last half of the batter (mix well) and then pour it into the other baking dish. then you have one spicy/adult dish’o’brownies, and one for the kiddies.
inexplicably, those little half-texans are not fans of spicy. yet.
maybe these brownies will be the thing to get them to come over to the dark side…
mahm’s dark chocolate mexican brownies
ingredients
2 sticks butter, cut into tablespoons
6 oz. (1 cup) dark chocolate, coarsely chopped (or you can use morsels)
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup special dark cocoa powder, unsweetened
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
directions
1. preheat the oven to 325. grease a 9 x 13 (or two 8-inch square) baking dish generously with coconut oil or baking spray.
2. melt butter and chocolate together in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring until smooth. remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes.
3. while you’re waiting for the chocolate to cool, in a large bowl, combine eggs, vanilla, and sugar – whisk well. stir in remaining ingredients. add in melted chocolate and butter. stir to combine.
3. pour batter into prepared baking dish(es). bake 25-35 minutes. (25 minutes will get you really fudgy brownies and 30-35 minutes will bake them through a little bit more.) let the brownies cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then cut into squares and enjoy! (store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.)
