Let me tell you how this recipe came about. Earlier in the week, we were invited to dinner and our hosts said 'Bring a dessert!' So, I made one, a delicious lemon poundcake but the dang thing stuck to the bundt pan, and it was a total mess. I mean I had greased every nook and cranny in this fancy bundt pan! Thought it would release with no problems. Not so. And, no way could I take it to the dinner party. With time ticking, I had to think of something fast. Of course, most all folks love chocolate, strawberries and whipped cream, and that meant I'd make some brownies. I mean how hard could that be. And, I could take them in the baking dish. No worries about getting them out!
Usually when I make something that I think is going to be a great dish, I'll write down the recipe ingredients and steps. Not knowing how these brownies would turn out, I decided not to. Well, as fate would have it, they turned out pretty darn good. No damn good! So good in fact that everyone licked their dessert plate, and I left all the remaining brownies with our hosts. Next day, I get a text from our hosts. They'd shared the brownies with friends of theirs, avid foodies no less, and they asked for the recipe. Yikes! I had to recreate the recipe in my head from what I remembered. And, I was pretty darn close to every single ingredient and step.
Yep, these brownies are the 'best dang brownies ever'!! What's unique about them, I think, is the fact that there's no granulated sugar used in the recipe. That doesn't mean they're not 'sweet', actually subtly sweet. That's because the sweetness comes from other unique ingredients that you might not typically see in a brownie recipe. Anyway, when I want a brownie, I want the center to be gooey and ooozeeee, so that's why we're not over cooking them. And, I want some crunch and that's why we have nuts. Then, of course, my favorite candy bar as a kid was the Almond Joy, so a littl' bit of my childhood is woven in with shredded coconut!
Give this recipe a try. The brownies keep well for a few days. And, if you want to warm them, just wrap in some foil and put in a low degree oven. You'll have that oozing of chocolate lava resurrected! xoxxo ~ally
Ingredients
- Preheat oven to 350
- 1 (9.7 oz.) jar of cocoa spread
- 8 oz. butter, salted, cut into 6-8 pieces
- 3 eggs, large, one with just yolk
- 1 cup flour, all-purpose
- 1 (3.9 oz.) box chocolate fudge pudding and pie filling
- 1 Tbl. baking powder
- 2 pinches salt
- 1 Tbl. + 1 tsp. instant espresso
- ¾ cup coconut, shredded and sweetened
- ¾ cup walnuts, chopped
- ¾ semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
