Cherry Chocolate Brownies

These rich and fudgy Cherry Chocolate Brownies are packed with fresh sweet cherries, plenty of chocolate chunks, and dollops of cherry jam on top. They're ooey-gooey, jammy, and completely delicious!

We think chocolate and cherry are the perfect match, just like in our chocolate cherry frozen yogurt popsicles! These luscious brownies are a perfect celebration of cherries - one of summer's greatest fruits - for chocolate lovers!

Looking for more brownie recipes to try? Check out our loaded brownies, these s'mores brownies, these red velvet brownies, or this skillet brownie!

❤️Why We Love This Recipe

• Decadent, rich brownies with luscious sweet cherries! This is a classic and delicious combo. Anyone with a sweet tooth will most definitely be delighted by these luscious treats!
• Super moist and fudgy. Thanks to the sweet fresh cherries and swirls of cherry preserves, these brownies stay moist for days!
• Made with simple ingredients. While these treats are over-the-top delicious, they're also made with staple ingredients that you can find at any grocery store. We make them with fresh sweet cherries when they're in season, but you can swap them out for frozen any time of year!

🍒Ingredients

Here are the ingredients we used for this recipe. You can find more information for substitutions below.

• Chocolate. We recommend using a bittersweet or dark chocolate bar for this recipe, but semi-sweet also works just fine. We recommend using a bar and cutting it up so that it melts down nicely. Chocolate chips can also be used, but we recommend keeping a close eye on them when melting since chocolate chips are designed to hold their shape.
• Cocoa powder. We recommend using Dutch-processed cocoa powder, which is treated with alkaline to lessen its acidity. This makes it darker in color and smooth tasting, with a less bitter flavor. Natural cocoa powder can also be used, but just keep in mind the brownies won't taste as fudgy or rich.
• Espresso powder. This is optional, but we highly recommend using it! Espresso really deepens the chocolate flavor, and don't worry, it won't taste like espresso!
• Brown sugar. This recipe uses all brown sugar like our s'mores brownies recipe, for a rich flavor that really complements the deep flavor of cherries. You can also use all white sugar, or half brown sugar, half white sugar like these loaded brownies or red velvet brownies if you prefer!
• Cherries. We used fresh sweet cherries for this recipe. Pit them, and halve or quarter them. If you want to use frozen cherries instead, this will work! There's no need to defrost them, but you may need to add a few extra minutes to the bake time due to the excess moisture.
• Cherry preserves. This is optional, but highly delicious! We love these delicious cherry preserves. They give the top of the brownies such a lovely jammy texture.

Visit the recipe card for the full quantities and nutritional information.

✨Substitutions & Variations

Here are a few suggestions on additional flavors to try, or simple variations to this recipe.

• Add nuts. Walnuts or almonds would make a wonderful addition to these brownies, feel free to mix them in with chocolate chips and cherries.
• Black forest brownies. Add a tablespoon or two of cherry liqueur or cherry brandy - often known as Kirsch - to the batter to make this a black forest brownie!
• Add more fruit. Swap out some of the cherries or cherry jam for fresh berries like strawberries, raspberries, or some raspberry compote for an extra fruity bite!
• Gluten-free. To make this recipe gluten-free (it should work well!!) swap the all-purpose flour for your favorite gluten-free flour. We love Bob's Red Mill 1-1 gluten-free flour.

This recipe hasn't been tested with any other substitutions or variations, so we can't guarantee any results. If you make a change, let us know how it goes in the comments below!

🔪Prep Work

• Allow the eggs to sit out at room temperature for about an hour, then separate one egg yolk from the white. Save the extra egg white for your scrambled eggs!
• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Grease the bottom of an 8x8-inch pan and line it with parchment paper.
• Chop the chocolate bar into small pieces.
• Wash, dry, and pit the cherries. We like to use a cherry pitter! Make sure to discard all of the pits! We included some photos of how to pit cherries in our chocolate cherry frozen yogurt popsicles recipe.
• Measure out the rest of the ingredients using a food scale. 

Prep the ingredients

Brown or heat the butter. (Image 1) Here is our step-by-step guide on how to brown butter.

The key is, whether you're browning the butter or not, the butter needs to be hot enough to melt the chocolate easily!

Pour the hot butter over the top of the chopped chocolate, cocoa powder, and espresso powder mixture and stir to melt. Set aside to cool. (Image 2)

⭑Pro tip: We want the butter to be hot to melt the chocolate, and activate the cocoa powder and espresso powder to deepen the chocolate flavor.

In a bowl, combine brown sugar, the eggs, and an egg yolk. With a hand mixer, mix until pale and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. (Image 3)

Carefully stream the melted chocolate and butter mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. (Image 4)

Add the vanilla extract, and continue mixing until completely combined. (Image 5)

⭑Pro tip: We don't want the butter to be too hot, or it will scramble the eggs! Allow it to cool off for about 10-15 minutes before adding it to the sugar and egg mixture.

Add in the all purpose flour and salt, and switch to a rubber spatula to gently mix.

Once the dry ingredients are almost all the way combined (there will still be a few streaks of flour), fold in the chocolate chunks or chips and most of the fresh sweet cherries, reserving some for the top. (Image 6)

⭑Pro tip: Once the dry ingredients are incorporated, don't continue to mix, or the brownies will become chewy and tough! Mix until just combined, then stop.

Pour the brownie batter into a prepared pan, and spread it evenly with an offset spatula. (Image 7)

Add dollops of cherry preserves over top of the brownies, then add the remaining sweet cherries and chocolate chunks. (Image 8)

Bake for roughly 55-75 minutes, testing for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the brownies beginning at 55 minutes.

You’ll know they’re done when the edges are set, but a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs on the toothpick. Set aside to cool for about 45 minutes to an hour on a cooling rack. (Image 9)

⭑Pro tip: Make sure to let your brownies cool completely. We know it's hard to wait! Because we underbake the brownies, and they have a lot of excess moisture in them from the cherries and jam, we need time to allow them to finish cooking in the pan or they will still be a bit too raw in the center.

After they have cooled, cut them into pieces, and enjoy! These work well as anywhere from 9-16 pieces!

Serve with a scoop of vanilla or cherry Garcia ice cream if desired!

⭑Pro tip: Use a sharp knife that's been run under hot water and dried off completely between each cut for clean, crisp cuts.

✨Top Tips

• Use a kitchen scale for best results. This is probably our top tip, every time we're baking something! Using a kitchen scale makes all the difference for accurate measurements, and brownies with a perfect texture!
• ​Room-temperature ingredients. Use room-temperature eggs. This helps them incorporate smoothly into the batter, instead of causing the batter to seize up.
• Let the chocolate, espresso, and browned butter mixture cool off before adding it to the batter, or you might accidentally scramble your eggs!
• Don't overmix the flour. Mix until just combined, and then stop! Overmixing can lead to a tough, dry brownie.
• Use an oven thermometer. Be aware of your oven's actual temperature! Some ovens run hotter or cooler than the temperature dial states. We love using an oven thermometer to verify the actual temperature.
• Don't over or under-bake. These brownies have extra moisture compared to some of our other recipes, so they need to bake long enough to set up and cook out some of the extra water from the fruit. However, you don't want to go overboard! Keep in mind that the brownies will continue to cook in the pan after you remove them from the oven when they are cooling off. The brownies may have an ever-so-slight jiggle in the center when they are done, and a toothpick should come out mostly clean with just a few small crumbs attached to it.
• Cool completely.  Allow the brownies to cool completely in the pan. Patience is key because they need time to finish cooking. As we mentioned before, these brownies have extra moisture compared to other recipes from fresh fruit and cherry preserves.