Mocha Brownies
As I was trying to figure out what to make this week, I realized I’ve never made brownies with frosting. I guess that’s not completely true. I’ve made brownies with peanut butter frosting and chocolate ganache and I’ve also made Texas sheet cake. But never just brownies with just some sort of frosting. I decided to do that this week. Hubby requested mocha brownies, so I upped the amount of coffee in the brownie batter and made some coffee flavored frosting.
I used my go-to brownie recipe. It never fails me. It already calls for instant coffee, so I just bumped it up to 1 Tbsp. I used 1 Tbsp in the frosting as well. These brownies had a great jolt from the caffeine and everyone seemed to enjoy them. I couldn’t wait to try these, so I frosted and cut them while they weren’t completely cool. I love that these brownies have chocolate chips in them. So when you eat them still warm, the chocolate chips are all gooey and delicious!
Check out my entire week of bars and brownies here.
Mocha Brownies
Yield: ~36
Ingredients:
For the Brownies
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups cocoa
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp espresso powder, optional
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups chocolate chips
For the Frosting
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp instant coffee
Directions:
For the Brownies
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan
In a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat briefly, just until it's hot, but not bubbling; it'll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.
Transfer the sugar mixture to a medium-sized mixing bowl, if you've heated it in a saucepan. Stir in the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla.
Whisk in the eggs, stirring until smooth.
Add the flour and chips, again stirring until smooth.
Spoon the batter into a lightly greased 9" x 13" pan.
Bake the brownies for about 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and the center should look very moist, but not uncooked.
Remove them from the oven and cool completely on a rack.
For the Frosting
In a bowl cream butter and vanilla. Add powdered sugar and beat on medium speed. Dissolve instant coffee in milk and add to the mixture. Beat until lightly and fluffy.
Spread the frosting over the cooled brownies.
Brownies adapted from King Arthur
Frosting Recipe from Blog Chef
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
These are so cute and perfect for Valentine’s Day!
They’re so pretty!! I love meringues, I love raspberry, and I love chocolate… I might have to try this recipe. Thanks for posting!
Those looks absolutely lovely! Great job!
How pretty, pink & perfect!
Not only are they SO pretty but they look delicious! I love that flavor combination.
I bet those would be great for a wedding or baby shower! They look lovely! And I bet the raspberry/dark chocolate combo tasted great!
These are BEAUTIFUL!
These would be perfect for a baby shower. You could probably use any flavor jello in them.
gorgeous pic and the flavor of raspberry and chocolate is wonderful!
Those look amazing. I love that first photo, nicely done!
Just looking at the picture makes me feel like i need to go to the gyms in Boston.
Oh my gosh, these look INSANELY awesome!! I want one right now!!
These looks simply gorgeous! and… I have a cookie tray to make for a baby shower… my yet to born grandson. Wonder how these would look in a light blue????
You could definitely use blue jello.
These are so pretty! Im having a baby shower this weekend for a baby girl and these would be perfect. Which tip did you use for the star?
I used the really big star tip. Not sure what # it is, but it’s the same one that I used for my peppermint meringues (there’s a picture in that post).
I saw this on tastespotting and wanted to comment on how gorgeous your photo is. I’ve bookmarked your recipe too – these are beautiful and I bet delicious with that flavor combination.
Thanks,
Michelle
http://oneordinaryday.wordpress.com/
Thanks for the compliments!
Those are so cute!!!!!!!!
Ok, you’ve inspired me…
http://erinsfoodfiles.blogspot.com/2009/03/vanilla-bean-meringues.html
Very good meringues… have made them several times for church since I found this recipe… they evaporate instantly ! Great also for a non wheat gluten item.
beantownbaker — March 9th, 2013 @ 3:01 pm
Glad you enjoy them!
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