Before I start this blog post, I'm going to be completely honest with you. This recipe involves packaged brownie mix. There, I said it. For some food bloggers, this is a serious crime. While
I've made brownies from scratch before, I find brownie mixes to be a quick shortcut for someone like me who doesn't bake regularly. I originally whipped these brownies up on Saturday for a holiday party that I was supposed to attend that evening. But life can get complicated and I ended up dealing with some personal family matters that evening instead of going to the party. But I still wanted to share these brownies on my blog.
I found this recipe in a handy little cookbook that I received
in May at a dinner sponsored and hosted by
Eggland's Best.
I've been trying to make a point of actually using my cookbooks instead of just relying on finding recipes online and this sounded interesting to me. First, I gathered up my ingredients:
- 1 box of Pillsbury brownie mix
- 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 Eggland's Best eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder (I used chipotle rub)
- 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder
- 1/2 cup red raspberry jam
- 1 bag Hershey's semi-sweet chocolate baking chips
- 1 cup whipping cream
I pre-heated the oven to 350 degrees and sprayed a 13 x 9 baking dish with baking spray.
I put together the brownie mix in a bowl. If you've made brownies from a box before, then it is pretty straightforward - brownie mix, eggs, vegetable oil and water. But this recipe called for two additional ingredients - chipotle powder and espresso powder - which would make these brownies really stand out!
I mixed the ingredients together by hand until the batter was smooth.
I poured the batter into the pan. I then measured out 1/2 cup of raspberry jam. I decided to use the
Stonewall Kitchen's red raspberry jam that I had leftover from
the baked brie recipe on Friday night.
I added spoonfuls to the top of the brownie batter and used a knife to try to make it into S-shapes. "Tried" is the operative word.
I baked the brownies in the oven for thirty minutes and did the toothpick taste to make sure it had cooked through. I cooled the brownies for about an hour. When the brownies had cooled, I whipped together a chocolate ganache by melting the bag of semi-sweet chocolate baking chips and a cup of whipping cream in the microwave at thirty second intervals. This took about five intervals and I thoroughly stirred the chips and cream in between each interval. I poured the chocolate ganache on top of the cooled brownies and put the pan in the refrigerator for about half an hour to chill.
I didn't actually try the brownie until Sunday but they were still incredibly delicious. The brownie itself was really rich and had a nice slow heat to it. I didn't think that 1/2 teaspoon of chipotle rub would make such a difference but it really did. The raspberry jam and the chocolate ganache added sweetness to help balance the spicy chocolate brownie. The chocolate ganache was definitely rich and added a gooey chocolate element to the brownies. Despite using a boxed brownie mix, I think these raspberry chipotle brownies turned out pretty fabulous!
Tell me, have you ever made any creative desserts using packaged or boxed mixes?
