Mexican Chocolate Brownies

I couldn't celebrate the 4th of July without a classic American dessert, so I went into my kitchen and whipped up a batch of my favorite brownies.

I came up with this recipe when I first moved to Mexico.  After having lived here a couple of months, I was starting to crave some good ol' fashioned chocolaty brownies.  As usual, the ingredients necessary weren't available in my small town.  There were no box mixes that I could whip up in a jiffy, nor was there any good, dark baking chocolate or cocoa.

I wasn't about to let a silly little thing like a few missing ingredients stop me from enjoying my brownies, so I looked around the tiny store where I did most of my shopping to see what I had to work with.  As I walked up and down the aisles, I spotted a very familiar ingredient...Abuelita brand Mexican Chocolate tablets.  The kind my abuelito used to make Mexican Hot Chocolate, and the same kind my suegra uses for her Mole Dulce.  I picked up a box of chocolate and thought to myself,  "Hmmm. I wonder if this will work?"  Without another thought, I grabbed a few more ingredients, like butter and pecans, and walked home as soon as I could to get started on my newest creation.

My original recipe for Brownies called for 2 sticks of butter, which I added, but had completely forgotten that Mexican sticks of butter are smaller than U.S. sticks.  Mexican sticks weigh 90 grams each (about 3 ounces), as opposed to U.S. sticks of butter that weigh 4 ounces (113 grams).  Oops!

Since I was working with Mexican chocolate, I decided to add a little cinnamon to enhance the chocolate's flavor.  I also stirred in a bunch of pecans.  And well, the rest is history.

And now these chewy brownies are one of my kiddies' favorite desserts. 

Not crazy about cinnamon or pecans in your brownies?  No problem!  These brownies are still delicious if you leave them out.  I didn't add them yesterday and no one seemed to mind.  But that's just between you and me.


Mexican Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients:

• 180g. butter (about 6oz.)
• 2 tablets Mexican chocolate
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
• 1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350F.  Generously grease a 13 x 9-inch baking pan or dish with butter; set aside. 

Chop each of the Mexican chocolate tablets into 8 pieces. 

Place the chocolate and the butter in a medium saucepan.

Simmer over low heat until both the chocolate and butter have completely melted, stirring occasionally with a wire whisk to prevent the chocolate from sticking to the bottom and possibly burning.  Remove from heat.

Whisk in the salt, cinnamon (if desired), vanilla and sugar until well combined.

Add the eggs to the chocolate mixture one at a time, until well combined.

Gently stir in the flour.  You may want to switch to a wooden spoon, because the batter will be a little gooey.  Stir in nuts. (If desired.)

Spread the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake at 350F for about 20 to 25 minutes or until the brownie springs back when lightly pressed.  Let the brownies cool in pan for 10 minutes.

Cut the brownies into squares and serve with a glass of milk.  Enjoy!!! 

*Keep any leftover brownies in an airtight container.




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