Red Wine Brownies
I’ve lived in Memphis for 5 months now and I truly love this city. But the last couple of weeks have left me feeling lonely and longing for those easy, close friendships I left behind. Don’t get me wrong, I have friends here, but they’re young friendships, filled with small talk and awkward pauses. I’m missing the friendships with the assumed Friday and Saturday night hangouts, playing video games and crashing on couch. I’m sure it doesn’t help that the weather is finally cooling down, and it gets dark at 5:00, so when I leave work at 5:30 solidly night time dark.
So what do you do when you’re feeling cold (seriously, it’s so cold), sad and lonely? Well, as always, I take to the kitchen and pull out my favorite comfort food and my favorite grown up beverage.
Nothing soothes the anxious soul like chocolate. And really what warms you up better than a delicious glass of red wine? Thank goodness these two things pair together so gloriously.
Make them was surprisingly soothing. Something about melty chocolate until silky smooth – filling the house with the the smell of chocolate before anything even goes in the oven. There’s also something satisfying about dumping alcohol into batter. Or is that just me?
These Red Wine Brownies are more than I expected them to be. The brownie itselt if melt in your mouth rich – like a truffle. The glaze cannot be skipped as it is decident and adds more red wine flavor, leaving berry undertones in the brownies. Seriously, these would go so well with some raspberries.
Ingredients
- 4oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces
- 1/4 cup red wine
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2oz semi sweet chocolate
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp red wine
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line and line an 8x8 pan (or a bread tin for thicker brownies) with aluminum foil or parchment paper and butter lightly.
- Melt the chocolate and the butter together in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until melted and smooth.
- In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, sugars and vanilla. Whisk in the chocolate mixture and then the wine. Add the flour, cocoa powder and salt and stir until the batter is smooth and has thickened slightly. Fold in the chocolate chips, if using.
- Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a tester comes out mostly clean with just a few crumbs attached. You may need to bake the brownies for a few minutes more, but set your timer for 15 minutes and then hang out in your kitchen for the last few minutes of baking time just to make sure they don’t over bake.
- While the brownies are baking make the glaze. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over simmering water until melted. Add the butter, wine and salt and whisk until smooth. Pour the glaze over the warm brownies and spread it to the corners so the top is evenly coated.
- Cool completely and cut into squares.
This sounds yummy, can’t wait to try it. I do hav a couple questions. In the directions you mention to fold in chocolate chips, if using, but you didn’t list how much in the ingredients. How much did you use? Also, what type of red wine did you use – cab, merlot, etc?
Use 1/2 cup of chocolate chips (I’m as chocolate crazy as it gets though and I like these without the extra chocolate). For the wine I used a Cab. You want to use something full-bodied. Let me know how they turn out if you make them!
Thanks. I will be making these next week and let you know the reviews from everyone and my event.