Margarita Brownies
Elizabeth’s dropping in today with a new One Last Bite. These brownies are equal parts strange and awesome.
I’m so excited to share this recipe, which I consider to be the Willy Wonk-iest of all brownies. I confess: at first bite, the flavors don’t make sense. It starts with a rush of salt, which is swiftly counterbalanced by the bitterness of dark chocolate, and brightened at the very end by the tang of lime. But once you take the second bite, all of the flavors come together and simply…make sense. This recipe is the perfect marriage of extremes: salty, bitter, sour, and sweet. Taken individually, they are severe, dominating, even unpalatable. Together, they mellow and unwind—as if they were meant to be in one another’s company. Enjoy.
Margarita Brownies
Adapted from The Kitchn; yields 16 2-inch square brownies
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped coarsely
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 lime, juiced and zested
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
3/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt
Preheat oven to 325°F and line an 8×8-inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving the paper extra-long and hanging over two sides. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and bittersweet chocolate over medium-low heat. Stir until smooth. Remove pan from the heat and add the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, eggs, vanilla and kosher salt. Mix until combined. Then add lime juice and zest, as well as the finely chopped unsweetened chocolate. Stir to combine and pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle the sea salt on the top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a tester comes out moist. It will not be perfectly clean, but it shouldn’t be sticky either. Allow pan to cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before removing brownies from pan. To remove the brownies, run a knife around the sides of the pan to help release the brownies, then lift out the parchment paper. Place the brownies on the paper back on the wire rack. Cool completely and cut into 2 inch squares.
*Post by Elizabeth Ansfield, photos by Lauren Craig