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.