Cherry Chocolate Brownies

These luscious Cherry Chocolate Brownies are the best of both worlds! Rich and fudgy with loads of chocolate, and delicious and fruity from fresh sweet cherries and swirls of cherry preserves.

Prep Time15

Cook Time1 20

Cooling time1

Total Time2 35

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: servings

Calories: 342kcal

Author: Briana

Equipment

8x8 square pan
hand mixer (or a whisk, or a stand mixer with a whisk attachment)
cherry pitter

Ingredients

Brown butter

1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks or 16 tablespoons. When browning butter, the amount reduces by about 20-25% due to water evaporating, so we start with more than we will actually need.)

Brownies

¾ cup browned butter can sub regular melted unsalted butter, about 170g or 12 tablespoons/1.5 sticks
4 ounces bittersweet or dark chocolate bar chopped (about 112g)
⅓ cup Dutch processed cocoa powder 30g
2 teaspoons instant espresso optional
1 ¼ cups brown sugar 250g
2 large eggs room temperature
1 large egg yolk room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour 120g
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 ¾ cups sweet cherries about 250g, pitted and quartered or halved
¾ cup chocolate chunks or chips 128g optional
½ cup cherry preserves optional

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.Grease the bottom of an 8x8-inch pan and line it with parchment paper.
Brown or heat the butter. 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!
1 cup unsalted butter
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.
¾ cup browned butter, 4 ounces bittersweet or dark chocolate bar, ⅓ cup Dutch processed cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons instant espresso
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.
1 ¼ cups brown sugar , 2 large eggs , 1 large egg yolk
Carefully stream the melted chocolate and butter mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Add the vanilla extract, and continue mixing until completely combined.
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
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.
1 cup all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 ¾ cups sweet cherries, ¾ cup chocolate chunks or chips
Pour the brownie batter into a prepared pan, and spread it evenly with an offset spatula. Add dollops of cherry preserves over top of the brownies, then add the remaining sweet cherries and chocolate chunks.
½ cup cherry preserves
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.
After the brownies 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!
Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4-5 days for the freshest-tasting brownies. Truthfully, they will last a bit longer than that but they may begin to lose some of their potent flavor. To freeze, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil, and place in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Video

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Notes

Use a kitchen scale for best results. That way, you make sure you have just enough (not too much or too little) of each ingredient to ensure the best texture. This also decreases the amount of dishes.

Room-temperature eggs. Use room-temperature eggs. This helps them incorporate smoothly into the batter, instead of causing the batter to seize up when combined with warmer ingredients.

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!

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, so they need time to properly cool off and set up.

Nutrition