Theo Cocoa Nibs Brownies

                                                                          

Butter, Cocoa Bits and Nibs

My favorite powdered chocolate, it reminds me of my dad

The melted butter and chocolate

Add some heat and enjoy!

I've never made homemade brownies before. Personally, I think the boxed variety are pretty good so I've always picked those up from the store when the brownie craving strikes. There are so many things you can do to make them a little different too. I'm thinking matcha or ginger next time I make them. The recipe calls for semi-sweet chocolate but I used bitter, dark chocolate all the way. I usually cut the sugar in recipes in half but I didn't in this case because of the dark chocolate. Still, I definitely could have cut out sugar, it was sweet but not overwhelmingly so. The cocoa nibs don't completely melt and they an an awesome (awesome!) texture to the brownies that I was very pleased with. It's a little hard on my braces. Any small crunchy thing is bound to get stuck in my teeth, but it's worth it. I just chew very cautiously.


Brownies
Adapted from Real Simple

1/2 c. unsalted butter plus more for pan
3/4 c. all purpose flour
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
6 oz. unsweetened chocolate chips (I used the rest of my Ghirardelli unsweetened baking chocolate chips, maybe 4 oz. and the rest was Theo's Cocoa Nibs)
1 c. sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Pre-heat oven to 350. While it's pre-heating, melt butter and semisweet chocolate (I don't have a microwave, which is what the recipe calls for, so I just stuck it in my pre-heating oven). Remove from oven and let cool a bit.
Butter 8 inch square pan.
In medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt.
Add eggs, sugar and vanilla to melted butter and chocolate.
Add flour mixture, don't overmix.
Pour batter into buttered square pan.
Bake 30-25 minutes. (I wish I had cooked for less, resulting in undercooked brownies :)