Mocha Chip Brownies

This brownie recipe is decadent. Cut them into smaller pieces than you normally would, because there is a lot of chocolate goodness in just a small square!

These don't need frosting. Great all on their own; they disappear FAST around here. If I ever needed to bribe anyone, this would be my go-to recipe :)

I'm going to try making them this week with some crushed candy cane sprinkled on top once they come out of the oven for a fun Christmas twist.

I've figured out the measurements so you can use a scale if you want to be really accurate. I love baking using scales! Especially to measure flour. I detest spooning flour into a measuring cup and then levelling it off. I always make a mess. Dumping it straight into a bowl and getting the right number to show up is sooo much easier! 

• 226g butter (1 cup)
• 283g chocolate chips (1 1/4 cups) + another 129g (2/3 cup) (keep separated)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 tbsp + 1 1/2 tsp instant coffee (one with sugar works best, Starbucks Via is too bitter)
• 1 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 72g flour (1/2 cup)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt

2 tbsp flour for coating the 129g (2/3 cup) of chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 350 and spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.

Melt together butter, 283g (1 1/4 cups) chocolate chips, and the cocoa powder in a medium bowl over simmering water.

Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, add eggs, coffee powder, vanilla and sugar. Gently stir (do not beat).

Stir chocolate mix into eggs and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl, sift together 1/2 cup flour, baking powder and salt.

Add to cooled chocolate mixture.

Toss remaining chocolate chips (2/3 cup) with 2 tbsp flour; add to chocolate batter and lightly stir to combine.

Pour into baking dish.

Bake for 30-35 minutes. Do not over bake.

Allow to cool, cut into squares.

Cupcakes!

I made some cupcakes the other day, and they turned out cuter than I expected they would.  They were pretty time-consuming to make, but I think you'll agree, worth the trouble!

Chocolate Butterflies on top of green frosted chocolate cupcakes

Cute little puppy!

I used jelly beans for the eyes and noses. Smaller ones for the eyes, since the large ones were TOO big and looked kind of scary!

The tongues were tricky, since I didn't have the right candy. I ended up cutting apart some of those gummy teeth (found at the Bulk Food store). I used a knife to cut off the white "tooth" portion, then rolled out the pink "gums". It took a bit of manipulation to get the shape right, but like how they turned out.

The ears were another component that took some time to do. I used mini tootsie rolls,  unwrapped and microwaved them (2 at a time, so they wouldn't cool before I had time to shape them) for about 10 seconds to soften. I then rolled them out so they would be flat, then used a paring knife to cut away and help shape them into ears.

Muzzles are just 1/2 of a large marshmallow with frosting on top.

For the butterflies, I first found a photo of a butterfly online that had a good silhouette, printed it off and traced the outline onto a few small pieces of paper. I then put a piece of paper under some wax paper, and used melted chocolate to trace the outline.

After I traced 4 or so, I switched colours and flooded the inside of the wings with melted orange chocolate. I only did a few at a time, because I wanted to be able to work with the dark chocolate before it set. After flooding, I used a toothpick to make lines from the dark into the orange.

Once all that was done, the whole lot got put into the freezer to set while I worked on creating the antenna out of more chocolate. They got put in the freezer for a few minutes as well.

Once all the chocolate was set, it was time to assemble. So exciting, I just couldn't wait to see if they would turn out or not, and if the wings would melt. I put both wings pretty close together on top of a cupcake, then filled in the small gap I left with more chocolate.  Added the antenna, and they were done!

To keep the wings from toppling over, I pipped a bit of extra frosting underneath to help stabilize.