Saturday, July 19, 2008

Dark Knight of Chocolate


My son has a major thing for Batman. He watches the animated series with his Dad, he looks longingly at the Batman section of the Lego catalog, and when friends of ours loaned him a Batman costume, he was in Batman heaven. He's been wearing the suit almost every day. It's a fabric-covered foam chest with ab embellishments, cape, and cap with bat ears. He wears it with sweat pants, even when it's 85 degrees out because, "Mom, Batman doesn't wear shorts!"

Naturally, when my neighbor brought over the box from a brownie mix with stencil cut-outs to make Batman brownies, my son launched into an intensive campaign of nagging, whining, and wheedling for me to make him Batman brownies. A birthday and a couple of power outages later I managed to make them.

I chose to go with brownies rich enough for a millionaire playboy, dark as the night, and with pecans because, seriously, a grown man who wears tights and a cape has got to be a little bit nuts.

Even if you're not a fan of the caped crusader, if you're a fan of chocolate, you'll love these!

(And before someone calls Child Protective Services, no, we're NOT taking him to see Dark Knight. Much to his regret.)

Dark Knight Brownies

4 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup pecans
3/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
2 tablespoons brewed espresso (or strong coffee)
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (60% cacao or higher)
1 Tbsp powdered sugar (optional)
1 Tbsp Dutch-process cocoa (optional)

1- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9-by-13 inch pan.

2- Place the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set that over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir occasionally till melted, then set aside to cool.

3- While the chocolate is cooling, toast the nuts for 6 minutes, then cool and chop.

4- Into a small bowl sift together the flour, salt, and cocoa.

5- In a medium mixing bowl, beat the sugars and eggs together until light. Stir in the melted, cooled chocolate and coffee.

6- Fold the flour mixture gently into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the nuts and chocolate chips.

7- Smooth the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes. Do not over bake.

8- Let the brownies cool for about an hour.

9- Stir together powdered sugar and cocoa and gently shake through a sieve over the brownies. Use stencils, if desired. Cut into 24 squares.

27 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Brilliant inspiration behind those rich, dark chocolate brownies - love it!

Anonymous said...

I love your comments about the ingredients, particularly the nuts. I think Samuel looks like he's delighted with his treat. He's a lucky boy.

Mary said...

He's so cute. And the brownies look deilicious!

Mary said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Cutting Edge of Ordinary said...

Those brownies look scrumptious. Hand me the batch and a half gallon of milk please!

Confession: The Joker in Dark Knight scares me to death. Heath is just so creepy that I don't think I can bring myself to see the movie.

Peabody said...

Oh I love it. How cute is that. When I was younger I wore my Dorthy(of the OZ fame) costume for days on end.

Anonymous said...

Bam, Pow and Zowie!! Holy Batman Brownies, can I have one?

Samuel's rockin' the bat ears and the abs embellishments!

LyB said...

He looks so happy! They really should make a Batman movie suitable for kids his age, he deserves it, wearing that suit in such warm weather! At least he got to have some of those delicious looking brownies. :)

Heather said...

that is one lucky little kiddo! you're a good mom :) i have never thought of using a movie as an inspiration for food... now i must think :)

Megan said...

Looks like some pretty tasty bat food to me. Perfect for Batman!

Debbie said...

Those brownies look great!!! Great Batman theme!!!

Chelsea said...

Stop tempting me to make brownies when all my baking supples except a few odds and ends are at my new place 5 hours away! I mean it...

Maria said...

I saw Batman on Saturday...I just wish I had these brownies too!

Aimée said...

How cute! You're such a fun mama! Any boy would love these brownies.

Mama Mia said...

how cute is your son!? So sweet of you to bake him batman brownies. I just watched the Dark Knight movie last night and loved it... but yes, Its not very child appropriate. But the brownies are! hehe.

Anonymous said...

These batman brownies are so cute, Lynn! I totally loved The Dark Knight- this coming from someone who fell asleep during the last Batman movie.

Sarah said...

very cute!

Patricia Scarpin said...

He's so adorable, Lynn! I love how you decorated the brownies. :)

Anonymous said...

Now that is the cutest Batman I have ever seen. And there ain't no way, a superhero could (successfully) fight crime without a big plate of decadent Dark Knight Brownies ... and a tall glass of milk. [G]

Anonymous said...

so clever, nice job

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CookiePie said...

Those are some serious-looking fudgy brownies!!! Delicious! I'd like to sneak a couple into a screening of Batman...

eatme_delicious said...

Ooo those look good. Love the last photo.

Anonymous said...

Holy cow Samuel, outside in 85 degree weather? In the Batman costume I loaned you!?!? You rock my world dude!

Isabelle says "Samuel is so funny!"

P.S.
You guys wanna stop by some time soon? I'd like to see Serena before she leaves for camp!

Abeer said...

awww! cant wait to bake these for my lil bro!

Gigi said...

Cute brownies and cute Bat Man!

LisAway said...

Ooooh! We just ate these for dessert! Those are some DARK NIGHT brownies! I even added milk chocolate chunks to balance out the darkness a bit. SUPER yummy. Great texture. LOVE them. Thanks so much for this recipe! I think I'll go have another!