Lighter Fudge Brownies

The January/February Cooking Light magazine claimed to have the BEST light chocolate recipe…ever. That’s a pretty bold statement right? Since it’s Valentine’s Day month, AKA “stuff your face with sweets” month, I decided to do my part and make this so called “best chocolate recipe EVER.”

In case you were wondering, the top candidates for best chocolate recipe ever were 4.) double chocolate ice cream

3.) chocolate frangelico fondue

2.) Texas sheet cake

(all recipes found here)

and the number one spot goes to….

Classic Fudge-Walnut Brownies!

I probably shouldn’t have posted a picture of their version on my blog since mine do not look near as pretty. I swear they turned out amazing though. They’re extremely chocolatey so if you love chocolate, you’ll really enjoy them. If you don’t like nuts or have an allergy, just don’t use them.

Classic Fudge-Walnut Brownies

• 3.38 ounces of all purpose flour-about 3/4 cup
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chunks, divided in half
• 1/3 cup nonfat milk
• 6 tbsp of butter, melted
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, divided (optional)
• cooking spray

So, first I mixed together the flour, sugars, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Easy enough so far!

Now for a fun part! Take half the bittersweet chocolate and mix it with the milk in a microwavable bowl. Microwave on high for a minute, stirring at 30 seconds, then set that aside. I couldn’t find the big hunk of bittersweet chocolate in the baking aisle so I bought a Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate bar and used that instead. Just as delicious!

While the milk/chocolate mixture was cooling, I added the butter, vanilla, and eggs to the flour mix. Once that was mixed up, I added the milk/chocolate, the rest of the bittersweet chocolate bar (I broke it into pieces), and 1/4 cup of nuts.

Next, I greased a 9 inch baking sheet and poured the batter into it.

I set the oven at 350 and baked for 22 minutes. One thing I skipped was using the full 1/2 cup of nuts. I like nuts in sweets, just not a ton. I also bought the wrong kind of nuts. Somehow I picked up chestnuts, not walnuts. Clearly I was paying no attention at the store that day.

These are SO good.

I don’t know if I’d call these the best chocolate recipe EVER, just because, I mean, come on. That being said, these are great brownies. They’re super chocolatey and rich. I love how you add chunks of chocolate so you get little pieces of dark chocolate with each bite. I swear I just made them and the pan looks really roughed up from me picking brownie bits out (my husband’s going to kill me).

I suppose in the “lighter” food category, this could be the best chocolate recipe ever. I definitely recommend them. Just make sure to have a group of people around otherwise you might consume them all yourself…like me.

 

Are you a chocolate eater? What’s your favorite dessert?