Soft and Thick Brownies

I’ll admit that I’ve always preferred the boxed brownie mixes to homemade brownies. The homemade ones were always too chocolatey and decadent for me, so I decided to make a recipe that I would actually enjoy. This recipe is a more cakey than fudgey brownie, which allows it to not be as decadent as the typical homemade fudge brownies. But lets be clear, it’s still a rich and chewy brownie.

This recipe uses maraschino cherry juice to help cut some of the chocolate. If you’d like a more chocolate forward brownie, replace the maraschino cherry juice with whole milk and increased the granulated sugar to 1 cup total. If you really like the taste of maraschino cherries, you can fold in some halved maraschino cherries into the brownie batter before baking.

Enjoy! ~ Kelly

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Soft and Thick Brownies

Yield: 16

Author: Kelly

Prep time: 25 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 55 Min

Soft, thick, and chewy brownies. Made with cocoa powder and maraschino cherry juice.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons maraschino cherry juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325º F.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, salt, and baking powder together until combined. (It may take a minute or two to get the cocoa powder incorporated. It will want to float to the top.) Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Add in the vegetable oil, eggs, cherry juice, and vanilla extract. Beat 3 minutes until creamy. Stir in the dry ingredients.
4. Pour batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square baking pan. Spread into an even layer. Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center.
5. Once cooled, cut into bars. If desired top with any chocolate frosting or chocolate ganache before slicing. Maraschino cherries can be folded into the chocolate frosting, if desired. Maraschino cherries can also be folded into the batter before baking.

Notes

MARASCHINO CHERRY JUICE

The maraschino cherry juice can be replaced with whole milk. If using milk, increase the granulated sugar to 1 cup total.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

161

Fat

9 g

Sat. Fat

4 g

Carbs

21 g

Fiber

2 g

Net carbs

19 g

Sugar

14 g

Protein

2 g

Sodium

179 mg

Cholesterol

39 mg

*Nutritional Information is estimated