Hi Everyone,
I know yesterday was Valentine’s Day, but I think you should be able to celebrate chocolate and hearts any day of the year. However, yesterday for V-day, I decided to make my favorite brownie recipe. Oh yum! Since it was a day of hearts, I also decided to make the brownies heart shape. Don’t you just love hearts?
These brownies are so rich, so decadent and full of wonderful dark chocolate, not to mention soft and gooey. I love them. They are a little puffy too, which I think is great. The brownies pair well with vanilla bean ice cream too. Since it was Valentine’s Day, I decided to make one big batch of brownies and then use my cookie cutter to cut out little heart shapes. I used about an 1 1/2″ cookie cutter. The recipe makes for 24 regular square brownies, but I got 27 hearts.
I ended up with a lot of brownie scraps, which I promise will not go to waste. We used it to put on ice cream, you can put in shakes or whatever else you like to accompany chocolate with.
The recipe it’s self is super easy. I have it memorized because I make it so much. All I did was melt butter in a pot, take it off and add my basic ingredients, you know flour, eggs, sugar and vanilla. I did use Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Unsweetened Cocoa Powder. I wanted the most decadent brownies ever and I like to use a good quality chocolate. Trader Joe’s Unsweetened Cocoa Powder is really good too.
Once I mixed everything together, I baked it in the oven for 20 minutes. Normally they go for about 30 minutes, but my oven cooks quickly. So just double-check at the 20 minute mark and go up to 30 minutes. I would rather have an under baked brownie, then an over cooked one. Nothing worse than a dry brownie.
- 2 sticks butter, unsalted
- 1½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 eggs
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, I used dark chocolate
- 1 cup flour
- ½ tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. salt
- Preheat oven at 350 degrees
- Line a 9 x 13 baking pan with parchment paper. I just let the parchment paper it hang over the edge. It makes for easy grabbing. Then lightly spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- In a large pot; over medium heat, add butter and melt. Once melted take off the stove.
- Add sugar to the pot of melted butter and stir until completely combined. Add vanilla extract; mix until well combined. Add each egg one at a time. Stir until each egg is incorporated. Add cocoa powder and stir until incorporated. Add flour, baking powder and salt and mix until well combined.
- At this time you can add nut and or chocolate chips if desired.
- Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in oven for 20 - 30 minutes, until; center comes out semi clean. I like to under-bake my brownies a pinch. My oven cooks quick, so I cooked for 20 minutes.
- Let the brownies cool completely before cutting. You can cut into 24 squares or you can use a 1½" heart shape cookie cutter to cut out little heart shapes. I used the brownie scraps to have with ice cream or to munch on.
- To store, you can freeze the brownies or cover with aluminum foil for a couple of days. Warm the brownies in the microwave for a few seconds and serve with ice cream. Yum!
I really do love these brownies. I think this is one of the best brownie recipe ever. To add more chocolate flavor and gooeyness, I’ll add dark chocolate wafer melts to the batter before baking. Talk about OMG! So darn good!
I hope you had a nice Valentine’s Day and I hope you have a great week!
Toodles,
Jennifer