In the Kitchen // Love & Olive Oil Cocoa Brownies
I forget where I saw these brownies first, but the second I saw them I knew I needed to make them. There are a couple reasons I was really excited to try these brownies. The biggest one being I had never made brownies or ganache from scratch before. Crazy right? I love to bake, but making brownies and ganache seemed daunting. Luckily, these brownies have completely changed my mind about that! Another reason I wanted to give them a try is their appearance. They are reminiscent of Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies! My mom used to buy those brownies every week at the grocery store so with Mother's Day just around the corner I knew what I had to do!
I decided I had to make these and Mother's Day would be the perfect occasion. My mom would enjoy that I made something from the heart and it would be something that we shared from when I was much younger. Okay, maybe not younger. I'm pretty sure she still stocks those brownies in the cupboard. So with that in mind, I cut out of work early to take on the challenge of making brownies for the very first time.
I will admit these were a great first-time brownie for me. The instructions weren't too complicated although I found myself asking "is this paste-like?!" "Is this pale yellow?!" I don't own a stand mixer, so I had to rely on my instincts to figure out what the right consistency was. On a positive note, my arms got a great workout for the day which obviously means I got to eat more brownies, right?
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I really liked how rich and chocolatey these brownies were. The ganache is creamy and not too sweet. The brownies are fudgy and tasted great. Ultimately I had to make a few changes. First, my local grocery store doesn't sell Dutch-process cocoa powder. Luckily with a couple internet searches, I found that by adding baking soda to the recipe it creates the same effect. I also used the ever humble chocolate chip for the ganache rather than chopping bar chocolate. In my experience cutting bar chocolate just makes a melted mess when I try to do anything with it. Plus I figured that it would give me a better chance of getting the ganache right than struggling to melt anything because the pieces weren't chopped properly.
There were a few downsides to making these brownies. I had to do a lot of math to make sure I had enough chocolate chips for 4 ounces of each. That's on top of the baking soda addition. Math isn't exactly my strong suit, but I put all those years to good use I suppose. Another downside was the setting time. That wasn't the fault of the recipe, but the environment. I didn't want to lose the glossy finish so I didn't use the refrigerator. It took a lot longer to set and they ended up being better the next day rather than the day I finished them.
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I made these again a few days ago just to give it another go. Especially because they didn't last long the first time. My entire family gobbled them up like they had never seen brownies before! The brownies last 2 days at room temperature and 7 days in the fridge...if they even last that long. Who doesn't love a good brownie with a cold glass of milk?
If you have trouble reading this graphic I created, click here for the full recipe.
Rating:10/10 I would definitely make these again (and I did!)
IntheKitchen-CocoaBrownies-RC
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