The combination of orange, coffee, and chocolate is delicious—the orange perfectly cuts the richness of the coffee and chocolate. I am a lover of anything with browned butter, however you do not need to brown the butter if you don’t want to! It adds a delicious nutty flavor, but it is not necessary. While most people drool at the words “warm brownie,” these brownies, because they are so rich, dense, and fudgy, are best served cold (but honestly, they will taste wonderful at any temperature). Finally, because they are so rich, it doesn’t hurt to enjoy them with a little creamy vanilla ice cream. TIPS:- If you’re using a glass baking dish, the pan will remain hot longer, so it's important to adjust your cooking time and take the pan out of the oven sooner. Additionally, you do not need to brown the butter if you don’t want to! It adds a delicious nutty flavor, but it is not necessary. The final product does have caffeine in it, so you can use decaf instant coffee for a less stimulating product.Makes 12 brownies.
Ingredients
¾cunsalted butter plus 2 Tbsp room temperature butter for greasing
½cbrown sugar
½cwhite sugar
1 ¼tspkosher salt
2tspinstant coffee or espresso
1Tbsporange zest, zest of 1 medium orange
2Tbspheavy cream
1tspvanilla extract, optional
2eggs
5ozsemisweet chocolate bar, roughly chopped
4ozmilk chocolate chips
½cand 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
¾call purpose flour
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8x8 baking dish with butter. Line with parchment and set aside.
OPTIONAL: Brown the butter.
In a saucepan with a light-colored bottom, melt the butter until brown; heat butter over medium-high heat, allowing the water to evaporate, leaving behind the fat and milk solids. Using a spatula, stir the butter, scraping the bottom to ensure the milk solids don’t stick and burn. The butter will foam and steam will evaporate. When the steam ceases, the butter will brown quickly, so stir frequently until the bottom is a caramel brown color. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl with half of the chopped chocolate, and half of the milk chocolate chips. Mix until smooth, then add in the sugar. Continue stirring until the sugar begins to dissolve and the batter is glossy. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes.
Once the mixture has cooled, add in the eggs and stir until silky. Add in the sifted cocoa powder, salt, and flour. Stir until there are only a few white streaks left, before adding in the remaining chocolate chips and mixing until no more white streaks appear.
Pour into prepared baking dish and place on the center rack in the oven. Bake for 18-22 minutes, depending on the baking dish you are using. I always aim to slightly undercook the brownies in the oven, because the pan will over cook the brownies even after they’re removed. Allow brownies to sit and come close to room temperature before removing from the pan and cooling completely—once removed, you can also transfer immediately to the refrigerator.
Serve the brownies with vanilla ice cream and enjoy!