Scrumptious Brownie Recipe

Remember those delectable Heart Shaped Brownies I was swooning over in my last post. Here's the recipe. If you cut them out into heart shapes you get adorable portion control. Yummy!

Recipe:
adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten)

2 sticks (8 ounces) butter
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
3 large eggs
2 tbsp instant espresso
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
powdered sugar, for decoration

Grease a 13 x 9″ pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the butter and chocolate together in the top of a double boiler over simmering water, and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and instant espresso. Pour in the cooled chocolate mixture and stir to combine.

Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder into the bowl sitting on top of the chocolate and suggar mixture. Stir the flour mixture into the batter and stir gently until all the flour disappears. Pour into the greased pan and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Place the pan on a wire rack to cool. After about 5 minutes, press a 4″ or 5″ heart-shaped cookie cutter into the brownies. Cool for about 10 or 15 more minutes, then carefully carve out the pieces around the heart and place in a medium bowl. Leave the heart pieces in the pan and transfer to the refrigerator to cool completely.

The Brownie scraps you can roll into balls and then roll them in powdered sugar or granulated sugar for another treat!