Mocha Brownie

"My soul's had enough chicken soup...now it wants chocolate."
(~Kitchen Nostalgia)


For some reason, which I fail to understand, I have given up baking completely; even the normal daily, basic things I would bake when I lived in India. So I rely on my daughter-in-law, Manu, to bake up delights to cater to those 'I want something sweet' moments. Usually she bakes something that comes out of the oven when we've finished dinner and are ready for dessert. And if it's a mocha brownie I can't wait to have a bite. I love having freshly baked, warm brownies. They're moist and have just the right amount of sweetness I want. And what I like more is that brownies are easy to make. So today she shares her recipe for Mocha Brownies.


Ingredients:

Butter............................................................1 cup
Sugar............................................................2 cups or if you like them quite sweet. I use 1 1/2 cups as I like them not too sweet.
Vanilla extract..............................................2 tsps
Cocoa powder..............................................3/4 cup. Use Hersheys or any good quality cocoa. It makes a big difference which cocoa you use
Nescafe Colombian instant coffee...............2 tbsps, mixed in hot water. If you are using plain Nescafe instant coffee you could add one more tbsp.

 Baking powder...........................................1/2 tsp
All purpose flour.........................................1 cup
Eggs............................................................4
Salt.............................................................1/4 tsp
Walnuts (chopped).....................................1 cup


Put butter in large microwave safe bowl. Micro until melted.
Stir in sugar and vanilla.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well with a spoon after each addition.
Add cocoa, beat well to blend properly.
Add flour, baking powder and salt, and beat well.
Add the coffee mixture and mix well.
Stir in the chopped nuts.
Pour batter into two greased shallow baking dishes. Use pie dishes 6" or 8" ones.
Bake in preheated oven at 180°c  for 30-35 minutes or until brownies are done.
Cool on wire rack. Cut into bars or squares.

If you time it according to tea time or dinner time you can have fresh, warm brownies as dessert w/wo whipped cream/ice cream or along with tea.

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