Krystal’s Espresso Brownies

By CheeseDiva

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
• 2 1/2 tbsp. instant espresso powder
• 1 cup chocolate-covered espresso beans (about 4 1/2 oz.), coarsely ground in a food processor
• 2 cups superfine sugar
• 2/3 cup unsweetened, dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. plus 1⁄8 tsp. fine salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup milk

Details

Servings 9
Adapted from saveur.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Heat oven to 325°. Grease an 8" x 8" baking pan with butter. Line pan with parchment paper; grease paper. Bring 1⁄4 cup water to a boil in a 1-quart saucepan. Whisk in espresso; let dissolve. Whisk together espresso, beans, 1 cup sugar, 1⁄3 cup cocoa, flour, oil, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1⁄4 tsp. salt, baking powder, and eggs in a bowl. Pour batter into pan; spread evenly. Bake until set, 45–50 minutes. Let cool slightly.

2. To make icing, bring butter, milk, and remaining sugar, cocoa, vanilla, and salt to a boil in a 1-quart saucepan, while whisking. Pour icing over brownies; let harden. Cut and serve.

I didn't use the water to dissolve the espresso powder. I put the instant coffee powder (I didn't have espresso powder and one tablespoon of vanilla in a small bowl. It dissolves quickly. I also thought 2 1/2 tbsp of coffee powder was too much so I only used 1 tbsp which gave it a strong flavour. I didn't have chocolate covered espresso beans, so I just added 1 tbsp ground coffee. I thought one cup of ground espresso beans would be too much. I also added one cup of walnuts. I only baked my brownies for only 20 mins but 18 mins would have been enough. There must be a typo for the 45 to 50 mins baking time. They tasted good, and I would try the recipe again with the changes.

Espresso powder? It makes me sad when a culinary resource like this offers recipes with processed, industrial food ingredients, it is against everything good food really represents.

I tried to make these brownies for a weekend party. I bake pretty frequently and I feel brownies are pretty easy and forgiving. These however, did not work at all. First, the icing did not set. Even the next day it ran all over the place making these impossible to cut. I tasted them to see if they just wouldn't look pretty. Unfortunately, they didn't taste like brownies. They we not moist, tough, crumbly. I ended up just throwing them away which was really disappointing. I trust Saveur and was really shocked these didn't work. Maybe I'll try a different recipe.

However, if you get your quantities right, make sure your butter is truly soft, and don't bake them too long, this is a good recipe. I didn't make the icing at all, and I substituted Kava instant coffee since I was out of espresso powder.