Cherry and Spice Brownie Bites

Name: Cherry and Spice Brownie Bites
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 64 bites
Ingredients: 1/3 cup all-purpose flour; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon ground ginger; 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1 pinch ground cloves; 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 5 pcs; 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate or 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped; 1/2 cup granulated sugar; 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed; 2 large eggs; 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; 1/2 grated orange, zest of; 1 cup chopped walnuts (Used pecans because that is what we had and it was still great); 1/2 cup plump dried cherries (make sure they are soft)

Submitted by Darkhunter

"This is, without a doubt, one of the best brownie recipes I have ever tried. The recipe is from the AARP Nov/Dec magazine. Wanted to post here so it wouldn't be lost. A little does go a long way, because these are so rich! If needed for a cookie exchange, you could cut these into 1" squares. If for yourself, cut more generously. If you need to serve a crowd, increase the recipe by 2 1/2 times and bake in a 9"x13" pan. They will need a little more time in the oven this way. Make sure to test for doneness with a knife."

Download

photo by Annacia

Ready In:: 55mins
Ingredients:: 14
Yields:: 64 bites

ingredients

¹⁄₃ cup all-purpose flour
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
³⁄₄ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground cloves
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 5 pcs
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate or 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
¹⁄₂ cup granulated sugar
¹⁄₄ cup light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¹⁄₂ grated orange, zest of
1 cup chopped walnuts (Used pecans because that is what we had and it was still great)
¹⁄₂ cup plump dried cherries (make sure they are soft)

directions

Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 325F degrees. Line an 8" square baking pan with aluminum foil and butter the foil or use nonstick foil.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and spices.
Put a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Put the butter in the bottom of the bowl, then add the chopped chocolates. Heat, stirring occasionally, just until the ingredients are melted - don't get them so hot that the butter separates. Remove the bowl from the pan.
Using a whisk, stir the sugars into the butter-chocolate mixture. Add the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla and the grated orange zest and whisk the mixture energetically. Gently mix in the dry ingredients, stirring only until they are incorporated. Switch to a rubber spatula and fold in the nuts and cherries. Turn the batter into the prepared pan and even the top with the spatula.
Bake the brownies for about 25 minutes, or until the top no longer looks wet and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Place the pan on a rack and cool to room temperature.
When the brownies are cool, turn them over onto the rack, peel away the foil, and invert them onto a cutting board. Using a ruler and a long, thin knife, cut the brownies into 1"x1" bites.
Storage tips: Wellpwrapped and uncut, the brownies will keep at room temperature for 4 to 5 days; cut, they will keep for about 3 days. They can be frozen for up to 2 months.

Questions & Replies

Got a question? Share it with the community!

Reviews

This sounds delicious. Has anyone tried this with what would be the correct measurements for a 9X13 inch pan, and what would the baking time be. I have a church picnic coming up and would like to make these. Thanks in advance!

Mean Mary
WOW, these are not only incredibly good but they're also cute as can be! One inch square brownies :D. Now you see, I had thought that these would be just the thing to help me have my chocolate and eat it too. You know, eat one, get my brownie fix and move along. Don't you believe it! You'll think they are so tiny....one more bite isn't going to hurt. Oh Momma these wee guys are demons not angels. You simply cannot stop taking that "Just one more bite"! BEWARE and be prepared to really enjoy these cute little poppers :D. Made for Comfort Cafe, summer 09.

Annacia
Ooooooo! *Yum!* I melted the chocolate & butter in the microwave so the hardest part of this recipe was zesting the orange (and that wasn't exactly difficult! lol) I used Ghirardelli chocolate and used half bittersweet, half semisweet. The only changes I made were leaving out the nuts and baking 5 minutes extra. Actually, I take back what I said before, the hardest part of this recipe was waiting for them to cool before digging in! ... OK, I admit it - I didn't wait! LOL Thanks so much for the recipe!

flower7

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

Darkhunter

As you can see, I've been on "Zaar quite a while now, and have reviewed quite a few recipes. Just like everyone else who's been around for a while, my rating system has undergone a change. *****Rocked my socks off. Won't change a thing! ****A good solid recipe. Enjoyed it. Might need a small change for personal preferences. ***Needs some help. Might be an operator error, but can't make it work. As all the recipes I choose are chosen because of the ingredients that we like, I will not give less than ***. And, please, keep in mind that this is only my personal opinion. Someone else might think it is wonderful and give *****. So keep posting! BTW, if I forget to thank you for taking the time to prepare one of my recipes, it is unintentional! My biggest passion is my reading. I can't go to bed at night until I have read something, even if its the back of a bag of potato chips! But that ain't gonna happen. I have over 300 books in my bedroom book shelves, and we have even more in the rest of the house! <embed src="http://www.clocklink.com/clocks/5025-white.swf?TimeZone=MST&" width="180" height="180" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"> ACTIVITIES & SUCH: <img src="http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r271/copperhorse58/Herb1BaySTKR.jpg"> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/annacia/Permanent%20Banners/snow-queens-sm.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>What a round! For me, it was a cider, chocolate & tea fest! <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/annacia/Permanent%20Banners/Masked-reveller-at-Carniv-0.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/annacia/Permanent%20Banners/pot-luck-sm.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> <img src="http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r271/copperhorse58/CalendarGirlsSwap2009.jpg">Partner was **Jubes** (Julie) <img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/Holiday-plaid_HPI.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket"> <img src="http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj81/HokiesLady65/Banners/holidayprmr2.jpg"> <img src="http://i490.photobucket.com/albums/rr266/Acadia/Banners/HolidayCardSwapBannerP.jpg"> Received cards from bigbadbrenda, KG Cook and evelyn/athens. Sent cards to Chocolatl, Shirl (J) and French Tart <img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2/kiwidutch/my3chefs2009final-1.jpg"> This year, I only was able to do 21 themes. But that is because I am trying my darndest to photo each recipe! They aren't the best photos on the site, but I'll keep trying! <img src="http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg271/MrsTeny/Permanent%20Collection/2009HolidayStockingSwapAMPageSticke.jpg"> My great partner was RepoGuysWife (Martha!) <img src="http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg271/MrsTeny/Permanent%20Collection/ParticipationBanner.jpg"> My swap partner was mandabears! <img src="http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj81/HokiesLady65/Banners/AMBadgeGenTP2009.jpg"> Played in memory of my sisters, Rose & Marylou and my friend Julie. Played to honor my sister, Wilma, and my brother, Brownie. <img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j166/ZaarNicksMom/Animation6.gif"> I adopted 43 babies, of which 27 were Preemies!<img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j166/ZaarNicksMom/PACsticker-Adopted.jpg"> My Mommy was Chef #860079! <img src="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/dcmac/PAC%20Fall%2009/Image3.jpg"> Adopted 2 recipes: Recipe #323155 & Recipe #280037. <img src="http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp340/northwestgal/redbannercopy.jpg" border="0" alt="New Kids Participation Banner"> Love to give reviews to untried recipes! <a href="http://s224.photobucket.com/albums/dd235/MidwestMaven/?action=view¤t=spoiledpetswap09partbanner.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd235/MidwestMaven/spoiledpetswap09partbanner.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"> What great fun! My very first Spoiled Pet Swap....Sarah (Mom2Rose), was my partner. So many great toys and treats for my 3 babies <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v726/annacia/Permanent%20Banners/?action=view¤t=cc-banner-7-09.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/annacia/Permanent%20Banners/cc-banner-7-09.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> My first foray into the first annual Comfort Cafe Summer! Made 18 themes! <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/annacia/Permanent%20Banners/bashed-the-beach-2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> Made Recipe #110059 and Recipe #44824 for the Beach Bash and Recipe #263179 for ROTD. What great fun! <img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/participantbannerzwt5.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"> Only my second ZWT and my teammies chose me as captain! What a thrill!<img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/captain.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"> This was our team! We came in Third Place! This was the best team! Brooke, Chef #469903 was my First Mate. Cherie, Chef #455641, was our Cookbook Guru! Heidi, Chef #601528, was our Scorekeeper. Vickie, Chef #227978, made this beautiful team banner! Laurel, Chef #219942, Scott, Chef #516926, Carolyn, Chef #491979, Laura, Chef #337668, and Chef #527886, filled out the rest of our team.<img src="http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp340/northwestgal/zwtbanner-small-1.jpg"> <img src="http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg271/MrsTeny/Permanent%20Collection/PACSpring09Participation.jpg"><img src="http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg271/MrsTeny/Permanent%20Collection/PACSpring09Iwasadopted.jpg"> <img src="http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e110/flower753/Food/my3chefsnov2008.jpg"> <img src="http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b158/bella_donata/My%20Art/Recipezaar/goldsparkle.png" border="0" alt="Made by Bella14ragazza"> <img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/IWasAdoptedfall08.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"><img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/PACfall08partic.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"> <img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/Zaar%20World%20Tour%204/ZWTAB-tg.gif"> <img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j166/ZaarNicksMom/mini.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"> <img src="http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e110/flower753/Food/my3chefs2008Small.jpg"> <img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/PAC08Main.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"><img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/adoptedspring08.jpg"> <img src="http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll235/auntsana/Zaar%20Photos/CasseroleSwap2008.jpg"><img src="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o195/Lorrie61/holidaylinenswap07a.jpg"> .

View Full Profile