Black Forest Brownies

This morning I woke up full of vim and vigor. I wanted to make brownies; but not just any brownies. I wanted to figure out a recipe for Black Forest Brownies, since a friend of mine had given me a bag of dried cherries. Yum!

I decided to start with gelatin blocks. I mixed up the peach and pineapple gelatin and prepared to put it in a jelly-roll pan. Mmmhmm…it helps if your pan isn’t ancient and warped. No. It just was not going to cooperate!

I poured the gelatin back into the bowl and popped the whole thing into the fridge. So it won’t be in blocks? It will still taste great topped with whipped cream.

So, the brownies…first I was stymied with the lack of baking chocolate bars at my house. There was only one where I thought I still had two. Darn! I needed two for my brownies. I decided to try a conversion. For four ounces of bitter chocolate I needed 12 tablespoons of cocoa, otherwise known as 3/4 of a cup, and four tablespoons of butter.

The brownies came out looking awesome and the smell amazing. Here’s what I did:

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Prepare your 9″ x 13″ pan by spraying it with cooking spray and setting it aside.

Roast the chopped pecans in a separate, shallow pan lined with foil for seven minutes in a 350° F oven, stirring halfway through. Cool.

Turn oven down 325° F.

20 Tbsp. butter

4 oz. bitter chocolate (1 bar)

5 eggs

1 1/2 C brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 C coconut flour

1 C tapioca starch

1 tsp. baking powder

1 Tbsp. xanthan gum

3/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 C toasted, chopped pecans

1 1/2 C dried cherries

1 1/2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

Whipped cream for dressing!

Put butter and chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and melt in microwave stirring in 30 second increments until smooth. Set aside.

Mix eggs and brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and mix well. Add dry ingredients of cocoa, coconut flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt, mixing gently. Add cooled chocolate mixture until thoroughly combined.

To dough, add dried cherries, chocolate chips, and roasted pecans. Mix well.

Put dough into prepared pan and push into corners with a silicone spatula.

Bake for 25 minutes at 325° F oven. Let cool in pan. Cut and serve with whipped cream (or ice cream). Enjoy!

The best reaction I saw for these was child #4’s reaction. Her eyes got really big and she smiled around her bite topped with whipped cream. That smile said they were pure bliss!

Yum!!!

Just a note: The gelatin was also fantastic!