Hazelnut, Cherry and White Chocolate Brownies
I’ve always been a brownie purist until I tried these. They’re hazelnut forward with a hit of white chocolate and a burst of cherry now and then. They’re super addicting. The texture is somewhere between a cakey brownie and a fudgy brownie, striking a perfect balance between the two as you take a bite. I adapted this recipe from King Arthur Flour’s Cookie Companion Book. It has several brownie recipes and this is definitely my favorite due to the cakey fudgy combo.
Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion
Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces) Unsalted Butter
2 1/4 cups (15 3/4 ounces) Granulated Sugar
1 1/4 cups (3 3/4 ounces) Cocoa Powder
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1 tsp Baking powder
1 tbl Vanilla Extract
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups (6 1/4 ounces) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 cup of frozen (or fresh) dark cherries, pitted and roughly chopped.
3/4 cup of hazelnuts, toasted, and roughly chopped (directions for toasting below)
1 cup of mini white chocolate chips
ok so….
Grease a 9x13 baking dish and then line with parchment with an over hang of about 2 inches on either side. Preheat the oven with the rack in the center to 350F. Toast the hazelnuts (whole) on a sheet pan for 5-10 minutes until fragrant and slightly darker in color. Remove the hazelnuts from the oven and pour them onto a kitchen towel and wrapping them lightly in the towel. This will help to get the skins off later. Let them sit for a 10 minutes and then rub the skins off between the towel. If some skins won’t budge that’s okay. Roughly chop and set aside.
Meanwhile, melt the butter over low heat in a medium saucepan. Add the sugar and stir constantly until it gets shiny and the temperature is between 110-120F. (This will give you the shiny top of your brownies). Remove from the heat and pour into a large mixing bowl.
Add the cocoa powder, baking powder, kosher salt and vanilla into the butter and sugar mixture and stir to combine. If the mixture is still very hot, wait until it’s cooled a little more before adding in the eggs. When the mixture is only slightly warm, add the eggs one at a time and stir to fully incorporate each one before adding the next.
Add the flour and gently fold it into the mixture until fully incorporated (don’t over mix). Add in all the cherries, most of the hazelnuts and most of the white chocolate chips, (leave some of the choc chips and hazelnuts to sprinkle on top). Once everything is incorporated spread the mixture out evenly into your prepared baking dish, using a spatula to smooth the top and nudge it into all the corners. Place on the center rack and bake for 30-35min, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Set the baking dish on a rack to cool completely before removing, cutting and serving!
