Espresso Brownies

posted: Tuesday, May 31st, 2011
Photo by Stuart Ralston

Once you try these espresso brownies, you’ll go back for seconds or thirds, and you’ll never go back to just plain brownies. This recipe comes from the fantastic Birchwood Cafe in Minneapolis.

Brownie Batter

  • 6 oz. chocolate chips
  • 1/4 c. butter
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 1 T. vanilla
  • 3/4 c. flour
  • 1/4 T. baking powder
  • 1/4 T. salt

Cream Cheese Batter

  • 6 oz. cream cheese [room temperature]
  • 1 1/2 oz. butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 T. vanilla
  • 1/3 c. sugar

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease [and flour] an 8X8 inch brownie pan. Melt together chocolate and butter over a double boiler [or in the microwave in 30 second increments]. Off the heat, add eggs, sugar and vanilla. Fold in all dry ingredients and spread out evenly into the pan.
  2. Make the cream cheese batter by mixing the butter and cream cheese very, very well with an electric mixer. Make sure that the batter is smooth before moving onto the next step. Add eggs, one at a time, and then the sugar and vanilla.
  3. Pour the silky cream cheese batter over the brownie batter and use a spoon to swirl it all over, even to the corners.
  4. Place the brownies in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes. Check your brownies by giving the pan a gentle shake and you’ll want to see a slight jiggle [but a clean toothpick]. Cool your brownies completely.

Espresso Filling

  • 4 c. powdered sugar
  • 1/2 c. butter
  • 2 T. espresso
  • 1 T. vanilla
  • 2 T. half & half

With an electric mixer, beat together powdered sugar, butter and espresso. Once mixed, add vanilla and half & half and beat on high until lighter in color and smooth. Set aside.

Ganache

  • 1 c. heavy cream
  • 2 c. chopped chocolate chips
  1. In a sauce pan over medium heat, bring heavy cream to a simmer. Pour it over chocolate and use a wisk to stir it fast until it is smooth and shiny. Cool slightly before using.
  2. Once brownies are cool, you can spread on frosting and then ganache. Cut into triangular pieces by first cutting 16 squares, and then slicing each diagonally to make 32 rich, fantastic brownies.
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