Mexican Brownies
Moist and decadent Mexican Brownies with a hint of heat to spice things up for Valentines Day!
These Mexican Brownies were inspired by a specialty chocolate shop in my town called The Chocolate Fetish. A locally owned business that makes utterly amazing chocolate truffles. We discovered The Chocolate Fetish shortly after moving to Asheville, and have since made plenty of excuses to stroll by its quaint downtown storefront.
My personal favorite truffle is the the Ancient Pleasures Truffle, a sexy fusion of dark chocolate and cayenne pepper.
This combination originated in Mexico long ago, and is still evident in many latin dishes like mole’. It is also thought to be an aphrodisiac. *wink*
The Ancient Pleasure Truffles inspired me to incorporate cayenne pepper into my favorite brownie recipe. The spicy heat plays so well with the deep smoky essence of chocolate. I then added instant coffee granules and cinnamon to round out these brownies, to have the flavor of authentic Mexican chocolate disks. Hence the name Mexican Brownies.
Let’s talk about brownie textures for a moment. Generally speaking, there are two types of brownie recipes. Those that use cocoa powder as the chocolate base, and those that use melted chocolate.
The use of cocoa generates a “cake-ier” brownie, while the melted chocolate version produces a dense “fudgier” brownie.
Personally, I like fudgy brownies… I usually only make cocoa style brownies when I’m using the brownies as a layer in dessert bars.
These fudgy Mexican Brownies are much more decadent than cocoa brownies. Yet the addition of spice balances the rich fudge flavor and texture marvelously!
If you are planning to stay in and cook for a special loved one this Valentine’s Day, these spicy little Mexican Brownies are a good way to finish your meal and create some sparks!
Mexican Brownies
Ingredients
For the Brownies:
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
- 12 ounces semisweet baking chocolate
- 6 large eggs
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
For the Topping:
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Melt the butter and baking chocolate together in the microwave or over a double-boiler. Allow to cool. Whisk eggs, sugar and vanilla together. Then once the chocolate has cooled a little, whisk the egg mixture and chocolate together.
- Stir in the flour, coffee granules, salt, cinnamon and cayenne. Once the batter is well combined, add the chocolate chips. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Pour the batter into the dish and bake for 35-40 minutes.
- Test the brownies with a toothpick—if it comes out mostly clean, take them out of the oven. The brownies continue to cook a little as they're cooling, but you don’t want them to be overcooked. Allow the brownies to cool completely. Cut into 24 squares. Clean the knife with a paper towel in between cuts to insure the edges are smooth.
- Mix 1 tablespoon cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon powdered sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper together. Using a sifter or small sieve, dust the brownies while they are still in the pan. Then carefully remove them with a spatula.
Nutrition
Making this recipe? Follow us on Instagram and tag @ASpicyPerspective so we can share what you’re cooking!
Pingback: 34 Insanely Delicious And Easy Mexican Desserts - alpha ragas
Mmmm!! We made these for a treat last night, and now we’re thinking of making them for the holidays, they’re so good. Thank you!
These are amazing! Not too spicy (I left out the cayenne in the topping), but just enough to know they’re not regular brownies. This is going to be my new go-to brownie recipe, with or without the heat
Made these brownies last night. Extremely tasty but I think the texture left a bit to be desired. Here are my impressions: the recipe was easy to follow. The only change I made was I added a full teaspoon of cayenne instead of 3/4 tsp. For baking, I baked in a glass 9×13 dish at 350 (my oven is usually consistent and I use it frequently for baking) for 35 minutes, tested with a toothpick, and then baked the brownies for an additional 3 minutes (total of 38 minutes). I allowed the brownies to cool before adding the topping. I noticed immediately that the topping started to dissolve a bit near the center as compared to the edges. When I cut into the brownies, the brownies were overcooked on the edges and too cake-like and crumbly and very undercooked in the center. The top of the brownies was very crumbly when I was cutting pieces as well.
The inside of the brownies in the center of the pan was so undercooked, I decided I couldn’t share these with other people. It was as if it hadn’t been cooked at all– you’d have to eat it with a spoon. I think next time I make this recipe (because it tasted so amazing and I really want this recipe to work), I will change how I bake the brownies to make the baking more consistent– I’ll probably either reduce the temperature and cook longer if I do it in the glass dish again, or I’ll use a metal pan. Overall: very tasty and I recommend this recipe, but definitely be aware of the type of baking dish used because this will significantly affect how the brownies turn out.
Pingback: Sunday, November 6th | Jackie Explores Retirement
These are absolutely fantastic! I aways modify slightly by leaving out the coffee granules.
Oh my goodness! Gotta love that topping!
My husband loves this flavor, I think I have his new surprise.
Try ground chipotles instead of cayenne for an even more amazing depth of flavour!
What a great combination – spice and chocolate!
These spiced up brownies look amazing. I wasn’t sold on the whole chocolate/chilli thing until I tasted some spiced chocolate a little while ago. It totally works. Thank you for sharing this recipe. Sammie
Those Brownies look incrediby sinfull.
Most Hot peppers and chocolate are a almost perfect match.
They are now at the top of my “let’s try this” list. I’m going to do them with Piquin peppers.
Thanks for sharing
I can't believe I never commented on these – they look amazing. I'm surfing through your site b/c I'm making your banana bread!
Thanks a lot for the post. I love to read articles which are about medicine or health related topics. They keep me up to date with the current issues. I hope to read more from you!
Kosher Vitamins