Chocolate.
What is it about this time of year that makes me crave chocolate? Oh yeah, Valentine’s Day. Well, that combined with the fact that it has been about a month and a half now since the holidays and I miss all those festive baked goods.
I think I mentioned before that I have a freezer full of berries from my Dad’s garden. The raspberries are great right out of the freezer as a snack, but the blackberries are a bit tart. They are more ideal for using in recipes.
So we have a chocolate craving and frozen blackberries that need to be used…
How about Blackberry Brownies? Yeah, I wasn’t sure how they would turn out either, but there are none left in the kitchen so something went right.
I used a simple recipe that caught my eye and modified it with what are becoming my new favorite ingredients – cane sugar, white whole wheat flour – you know, the good stuff. I’m also beginning to learn that most standard recipes for baked goods contain a lot of sugar that really isn’t necessary. You can cut back and they still taste just as good.
On that note, I cut the sugar from 1 cup down to 1/3 cup, and then I added some chocolate chips for to make the brownies a bit richer in chocolate flavor. The combination of that and the tart blackberries produced a winner. These brownies are tender, rich and one great Valentine’s Day dessert!
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup cane sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup whole white wheat flour
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp baking powder
1 cup frozen blackberries, defrosted
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup cane sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup whole white wheat flour
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp baking powder
1 cup frozen blackberries, defrosted
1/3 cup chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8 x 8 inch baking pan.
Whisk the sugar and melted butter in a bowl and gradually beat in the eggs. Add the vanilla, and then stir in the cocoa powder. Add the flour, salt and baking powder and mix just until all ingredients are well combined. Stir in the blackberries, followed by the chocolate chips.
Spread the batter evenly into the pan and bake the brownies for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool, cut and enjoy! Note: milk or coffee will only improve the experience.
Speaking of chocolate, A Life Less Sweet Reviews is giving away a great gift bag full of fair-trade chocolate and coffee. So if your chocolate craving is as bad as mine, head over and check it out!
I love that you used blackberries. I can’t wait to try these!
Mmmm…what an interesting combination! I love blackberries, I love chocolate…I love chocolate covered blueberries (similar no?) so I am sure to love these! Can’t wait to try, I am so curious about the flavor!
Awesome! I love raspberries and chocolate but I can imagine that the tartness of the blackberries were excellent with cocoa’s sweetness. I’m such a slave to recipes – I do what I’m told! – but you’re right about unnecessary amounts of sugar. With flavors from quality chocolate and fruits, all that extra sweetness is not really needed.
So, there’s none left for me, huh?
these sound soooo good. i love blackberries! i will have to give them a go. happy weekend!
Maria – Let me know how they turned out if you try them!
Active Foodie – Yep, that is exactly what I had on my mind when I made them. I think they’d be great with blueberries too!
TN – There were barely any left for my husband. Ha, ha! 🙂
MaryBeth – Hope you like them. Have a great weekend!
I love blackberries and I bet they’d taste fantastic in the brownies.
this looks delicious! i ADORE making brownies, and this seems like a sure-fire recipe 🙂
I just found your blog and love it! can’t wait to read more about you and your amazing recipes 🙂
These would be a perfect Vday present for my Mom! She would love them!
That must be lovely, I love blackberries and combined with chocolate, hum,hum,huuuum…
Lori, these look so good! Blackberries are one of my favorite things, and what doesn’t go with chocolate:P
Yum! Blackberries in brownies must be so good and the brownies have to be super moist and delicious, can’t wait to try!
how great to add the blackberries. The brownies look delicious. I tend to cut a bunch of the sugar out of baking recipes too!
I love berries with chocolate so these are right up my alley!
What a great sounding recipe, and I am kicking myself for not thinking to add berries before. They are the perfect combination with chocolate after all, this is a natural. You have me craving some now!
You’re so right about sugar… 1/3 is definitely a lot less than a cup and the brownies were as good? I should keep that in mind when the recipe calls for a lot of sugar. Thanks for the info Lori!
Amanda – The flavor is great together!
Hi Heather – Welcome! I love brownies too!
Emily – They would make a great gift. They cut easily and would be easy to wrap up.
Anna – It’s a new combo for me, but I now love it. 🙂
janet – I have to agree. I’ve found very few things. 🙂
5 Star – Definitley one of the positives. The berries kept them very moist.
Deb – All that sugar can cover up the flavor, I think.
kat – It was a berry I hadn’t tried before, but ended up working.
OysterCulture – I thought the same thing. Such a great combo, should have thought of it earlier. 🙂
Malou – It was plenty because the chocolate chips bring out some sweetness. These aren’t overly sweet, more rich from the chocolate.
Berries in brownies, now that is one i have to try.
would this work with frozen raspberries? I come from a place without blackberries, but I love the fruitifying of something so heavy & rich.
Twyla – Raspberries would work great too.
The best part about using berries in brownies is you can make them WAY healthier if you
1. Use low-fat brownie mix
2. Egg whites instead of whole eggs
3. Cocoa powder exclusively instead of chocolate chips
4. Replace the butter with just enough nonfat milk to moisten the batter. If you spread the batter over the berries and bake, you get a crunchy brownie top and juicy, cobbler-like brownie inside without all the fat.
Lindsay – Thanks so much for your comment. Sounds like you have a good plan. I’m not a fan of processed mixes (kind of a theme of the blog)and pastured egg yolks actually have a lot of vitamins and minerals, so I like to keep mine from scratch. That’s the beauty of cooking though. To each his/her own. I just don’t happen to consider lowfat healthy. Lots of current research is confirming that full fat, naturally raised isn’t an issue, it’s the processed foods that are a problem so I embrace foods like butter. Thanks for reading!