Description
Deliciously rich and fudgy brownies perfect for Valentine’s Day!
Ingredients
Scale
- 4 oz chocolate (bittersweet (good-quality))
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted (about 1 ½ sticks of butter) or 9 TBSP vegetable oil)
- 1 ¼ cups sugar
- ¼ cup cocoa powder (sifted)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs (at room temperature)
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour (sifted)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 ½ tbsp milk
- Food coloring (red)
Instructions
- To make the brownies, preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line an 8-inch (20 cm) square baking pan with parchment paper (if needed, grease the bottom slightly so the paper can stick to the pan). Make sure the paper comes up the side of the pan so you can lift the baked brownies out of the pan easily. If you prefer, use a heart-shaped brownies pan.
- Chop the chocolate into chunks or use chocolate chips. In a medium bowl, melt both the chocolate and the butter (cut into chunks) or oil in the microwave in 30-second intervals or until melted, about 1 to 1 ½ minutes. Let sit for about 3 minutes and stir well until smooth. Reserve!
- In a separate large bowl, mix the sugar, sifted cocoa powder, and salt, and then add the eggs. Beat with an electric hand mixer for about 2-3 minutes to incorporate air. Whisk in the vanilla and the melted chocolate by hand (make sure chocolate is not too hot or else the eggs will cook).
- Sift in the flour and fold it in with a spatula to incorporate it into the batter, but do NOT overmix; otherwise, you will wind up with cakey brownies.
- Transfer the thick brownie batter to the prepared baking dish.
- Bake for 20-28 minutes, depending on how fudgy you like your brownies. Let the pan cool completely on a rack before lifting up the parchment paper and slicing the Valentine’s brownies into 9 slices.
- Decorate as desired! I used a star tip to pipe buttercream onto the brownies.
- To make the Homemade Buttercream Frosting Recipe: You may either buy buttercream ready to use or make your own. Here is how to make homemade buttercream: In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter for 1-2 minutes. Add in the vanilla and mix until combined.
- Add in powdered sugar, one cup at a time, mixing well after every addition. Combine the milk, one tablespoon at a time, or until the frosting is at a piping consistency.
- To decorate our fudgy brownies for Valentine’s Day, place 1/3 of the buttercream into a piping bag and reserve. Divide the remaining 2/3 into 2 bowls. One will be mixed with a few drops of red coloring to achieve the shade of pink that you want. The other will be mixed with many more drops of red coloring to achieve a red tone.
- Transfer the pink and red buttercream to separate piping bags.
- You will have enough to pipe 9 brownies total.
- Use the white buttercream to pipe an “X” onto 3 of the brownies. To make heart-shaped brownies, pipe a pink heart onto 3 of the brownies (you can mark their tops with a heart shape cookie cutter before piping). Lastly, you can use a round cookie cutter to mark the top of the 3 remaining brownies and then pipe a circle using the red buttercream.
- There you will have XOXO brownies plus heart brownies.
- You may use sprinkles to put a finishing touch to this Valentine’s dessert.
Notes
- This recipe can be adapted by using different types of chocolate or adding nuts.
- Brownies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 28 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 brownie
- Calories: 300
- Sugar: 30g
- Sodium: 150mg
- Fat: 15g
- Saturated Fat: 9g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 40g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 50mg