Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Blogger Race Celebration Dinner, Including Deep Chocolate Brownies with Dried Cherries and Sea Salt

I was quite the extrovert this weekend. Not only did I race that 10k with Liz and Chase, but I also met up with some other bloggers for a dinner to celebrate victories in various races we’d all completed recently.

Emily, Emily, Katie, and Lauren, the host, took part in a Half Ironman over the weekend. Beth just finished the Eugene Marathon. Um, my 10k is kind of pathetic, no?

It is. But do you know what isn’t at all pathetic? Kickass brownies.

As we all know, all brownies kick ass. How to make them really kick ass? By adding more chocolate chunks, dried cherries, and sea salt.

And by basing the whole thing on my favorite brownie recipe: Nick Malgieri’s Supernatural Brownies

Deep Chocolate Brownies with Dried Cherries and Sea Salt - Ingredients

8 tablespoons butter

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, divided (Scharffen Berger 70% Cocoa)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons coarse sea salt, divided

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 cup flour, divided

4 ounces dried cherries, chopped

Begin by combining dried cherries, one tablespoon of coarse sea salt, and two ounces of the chopped chocolate. Toss with two tablespoons of the flour to ensure that these additions adhere to the batter throughout the baking process.

Pre-heat the oven to 350° F, line an 8"x8" pan with parchment paper, and liberally apply butter to parchment paper. Meanwhile, melt the butter and remaining chocolate over low heat, then cool while

whisking the eggs until light and fluffy. Slowly whisk in the sugars, followed by the vanilla and half a tablespoon of salt. Whisk in the chocolate mixture, then carefully fold in flour, stopping just before it is all incorporated.

Add mixture of salt, cherries, chocolate, and flour, stir until just incorporated.

Pour in pan, sprinkle with remaining half tablespoon of sea salt and bake 30-40 minutes.

I think these brownies, and other similar treats, are the reason I get invited to these gatherings. I’m OK with that. It gets me out of the house. And gives me an excuse to bake brownies.

Have you ever made brownies with fruit added?

17 comments:

  1. I have not - but I TOTALLY WILL NOW. These look fabulous. Congratz again on your successful running and rare(?) extrovertitude (new word). Can't wait to give these a try. Brownies are a great slacker dessert; they take so much less effort than cake. @.@

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mm these brownies look amazing! I have never had brownies with fruit in! They look delicious yumm!

    ReplyDelete
  3. These are super similar to the thank you brownies I cooked for my Honours supervisor! They were dark chocolate brownies with white chocolate, cranberries, and walnuts. Actually, maybe they weren't that similar after all... :P

    ReplyDelete
  4. Those brownies look amazing!!!!!!!!!! :D I love chocolate + salt!!! Never had a brownie with fruit in it though....

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have never made homemade brownies actually ever. But I do love my chocolate with fruit in it so I think I would love them.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Everything tasted so good that you made on Sunday. yum!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Those brownies were AMAZING.

    ReplyDelete
  8. ooo I've never had fruit in brownies but that sounds wonderful!! I'm sure the brownies are not the only reason you get invited to parties!! just a little bonus!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yum. I made some banana split brownies once and have now been craving some banana brownies I read online. However, chocolate & cherries are one of my absolute favorite combos so I imagine these are delish especially with the perk from the sea salt

    ReplyDelete
  10. I had one of these for breakfast. that is all.

    ReplyDelete
  11. These brownies look outstanding... I need to make them!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Those brownies were absurd. I could eat a whole pan. And they totally helped my recovery :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Fantastic flavor combination. Wow!

    ReplyDelete
  14. MMM, I could take out a ton of these. I made gluten-free (boxed, psh) brownies a year ago with dried cherries, but while delicious, they couldn't hold a candle to these.

    Also, I'm quite envious of the camaraderie that you DC bloggers seem to have, both in food and fitness. I feel so alooone here! D:

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love that you added dried cherries! These sound amazing :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Sea salt makes everything kick ass, and these brownies are no exception. YUM!

    ReplyDelete