“Spicy” Chocolate Brownies

I haven’t blogged in a while. In fact, I didn’t blog at all in April. I just didn’t have the mental capacity. Life and work have been quite busy and in my day job, I am in front of a computer screen all day. The last thing I wanted to do is get home and open up my laptop. When your outlet becomes a chore, it’s time to take a break. But it’s quieted down a bit and I’m feeling refreshed. (Which may or may not have something to do with the fact that I’ve been getting my butt out of bed slightly earlier so I can do an awesome workout DVD almost every day. Morning endorphins are an amazing thing.)

Today is Cinqo de Mayo, and when I think of that, I think about Mexican food (duh) and bright colours. And, chocolate. With chocolate in mind, I share with you a brownie recipe that I am really pleased with. Brownies!

“Spicy” Chocolate Brownies

Yield: 16 large or 25 small squares

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 8 ounces (8 squares) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup spelt flour
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ancho chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter or oil an 8-inch square baking pan or glass casserole dish.
• Line pan with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang on 2 sides. Set aside.
• Blend flour, salt, cinnamon, and acho chili in a small bowl. Set aside.
• Melt chocolate and butter until smooth in a double boiler or bowl set on a saucepan of simmering water. Remove bowl from heat and allow to cool until room temperature. (If you are short of time, microwave on high for approximately one minute until melted and whiskable in a microwave safe container.)
• Stir sugar into cooled chocolate mixture until combined. Whisk eggs into mixture, one at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Whisk in vanilla. Gently fold in flour blended dry ingredients.
• Pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing out with a spatula. Bake 40 to 45 minutes (until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached). Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Run a knife or spatula around the edges of the pan. Using the parchment edges, lift brownies out of pan and onto the rack. Transfer to a cutting board; cut into 16 or 25 squares, depending on preference.

Enjoy!

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I recently found a website for recipe management and meal planning called Pepperplate.com. You can upload or “pin” recipes from websites, create your own, make dinner party menus, and meal plan. Eventually, I hope to get all my recipes in there so I can get rd of my overstuffed recipe binder. It’s pretty neat, there’s an option to share your recipes if you want to, and it’s FREE. If you want to try it out, click here to create a profile and add the “spicy” brownies recipe to your recipe box. (If only I got paid to make recommendations like this. Alas, I don’t but I still recommend the site. 😉 )

It’s Game 3 tonight and Sean and I are heading into town to have dinner and watch the game at a restaurant/bar. I’m hoping the Canucks can pull out a win (and then another, and then two more to win the series). We are 0-2 but I am eternally hopeful that we will win the series against San Jose. We are a much better team.

Go Canucks, go!