Cherry chocolate brownie recipe: learn how to make cherry and chocolate brownies with an easy step by step recipe. These brownies are more like brownie cakes and not the dense and chewy kind but nevertheless, they make a fabulous edible gift for Christmas or really for any occasion. I baked them most recently to take to a birthday party and used glazed cherries that have sprung up in all supermarkets over Christmas.
The truth is, I have been dreaming about this cherry chocolate combination in a brownie or cake recipe for ages. While perfect for Christmas, these cherry chocolate brownies can be baked any time you have the urge to do so. This basic brownie recipe which is an adapted version of my whole wheat brownie recipe, is really foolproof and can be made in just one bowl. Brownies in general tend to be fairly forgiving in how they are prepared and this cherry chocolate brownie is no exception.
More brownie recipes you may like:
Basic brownie recipe (you can adapt this to your liking)
Brownies using biscuits (no oven required)
Twix Brownies
Atta Brownies
Cherry Chocolate Brownie Recipe
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
This cherry chocolate brownie recipe is crumbly and resembles a cake but with great brownie qualities. I used glazed cherries to make them more festive and also to add some bite to them.
Author: nags
Recipe type: Brownies
Cuisine: International
Serves: 12-15 slices
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ cup of boiling water
- ⅓ cup of melted butter
- 1 egg
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp flour (maida)
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¾ to 1 cup glazed cherries, chopped
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350F / 180C
- Place cocoa powder in a wide bowl
- Boil the water and add to the cocoa powder
- Mix well without any lumps. You'll get a thick paste. If it's too thick, add a bit more hot water.
- Add melted butter to this. I usually melt butter in the microwave using the 'defrost' option so that it doesn't get very hot. If the butter is hot, wait until it cools down before proceeding. Mix well after adding it to the cocoa paste.
- Crack the egg in and whisk well to combine.
- Next, added the brown sugar. I don't fully pack in a 1 cup since I like this to be a little less sweet. Add the full one cup for regularly sweetened brownies.
- Mix well.
- Now add the flour, vanilla, salt, and baking soda. Gently fold to combine well and make sure no streaks of flour remain. It's best to sift the flour into the bowl to avoid small lumps forming.
- Finally, add the chopped cherries and fold in. Save some to add on top of the brownies before baking. The batter will be fairly thick.
- Grease your baking pans with non-stick baking spray or a generous coating of butter and transfer the batter in. (I used two 6" loaf pans since that's an easy size to pack and gift. You can use one 8" pan too).
- Flatten the top gently with your spatula to make sure it's even. Add the reserved cherries on top and push into the batter gently.
- Bake in the pre-heated oven for 35-40 mins. If a toothpick comes out with crumbs when inserted into the centre, it's done.
- Cool in the baking pans for 15 mins and gently invert onto cooling racks to cool completely before slicing.
- Stays at room temperature up to 2 days and refrigerated up to 4 days.
Notes
You can use white sugar instead of brown sugar, the brownies will taste even more cake-like in that case. You can also replace brown sugar with jaggery.
The white flour can be replaced with whole what flour or atta
Fresh cherries can be used instead of glazed cherries. Increase sugar by 2 tbsp in that case
You can substitute 1 egg with ¼ cup thick, plain curd (yogurt) or 1 egg = 1 tbsp flax seed powder + 3 tbsp warm water
The white flour can be replaced with whole what flour or atta
Fresh cherries can be used instead of glazed cherries. Increase sugar by 2 tbsp in that case
You can substitute 1 egg with ¼ cup thick, plain curd (yogurt) or 1 egg = 1 tbsp flax seed powder + 3 tbsp warm water
Step by Step Cherry Chocolate Brownie Recipe
Pre-heat oven to 350F / 180C
Place 6 tbsp cocoa powder in a wide bowl
Boil water and add to the cocoa powder
Mix well without any lumps. You’ll get a thick paste. If it’s too thick, add a bit more hot water.
Add melted butter to this. I usually melt butter in the microwave using the ‘defrost’ option so that it doesn’t get very hot. If the butter is hot, wait until it cools down before proceeding.
Mix well after adding it to the cocoa paste.
Crack the egg in and whisk well to combine.
Next, added the brown sugar. I don’t fully pack in a 1 cup since I like this to be a little less sweet. Add the full one cup for regularly sweetened brownies.
Mix well.
Now add the flour, vanilla, salt, and baking soda.
Gently fold to combine well and make sure no streaks of flour remain. It’s best to sift the flour into the bowl to avoid small lumps forming.
Chop up the cherries and fold some into the batter. I skipped this and just added the cherries on top before baking – big mistake. Definitely fold some into the brownie batter.
Save some cherries to add on top of the brownies before baking. The batter will be fairly thick.
Grease your baking pans with non-stick baking spray or a generous coating of butter and transfer the batter in. (I used two 6″ loaf pans since that’s an easy size to pack and gift. You can use one 8″ pan too).
After pouring the batter in, flatten the top gently with your spatula to make sure it’s even.
Add the reserved cherries on top and push into the batter gently.
Bake in the pre-heated oven for 35-40 mins. If a toothpick comes out with crumbs when inserted into the centre, it’s done.
Cool in the baking pans for 15 mins and gently invert onto cooling racks to cool completely before slicing.
The cherry chocolate brownies stay at room temperature up to 2 days and refrigerated up to 4 days. A perfect edible gift for the Christmas season or at any time of the year.
Merry Christmas 2015 folks, and looking forward to a fabulous 2016 🙂
marina says
December 27, 2015 at 4:43 pmHi nags , compliments of the season ….. got your site from veg recipes of india… you too hv an excellent range recipes..would surely try your non-veg recipes… just wanted to know if i can use powdered white sugar instead of brown sugar… thanks in advance…
regards
marina
nags says
December 28, 2015 at 8:33 amThanks Marina, yes you can surely try that. The brownies will be a bit different in texture. Increase 1 tbsp butter to compensate for the moisture in brown sugar
Sowmya says
December 26, 2015 at 10:04 pmThis is so chocolatey! And I am glad the space is Edible Garden again. Got used to relating it with you Nags.
nags says
December 27, 2015 at 8:42 amI was just giving it a shot to match my URL but guess Edible Garden it is 🙂
Sowmya says
December 27, 2015 at 1:03 pmTrue. Let it be this way pls. Good luck . The space looks great now. I like the white.
Deepthy says
December 25, 2015 at 12:31 pmWow, the name itself is mouth watering !! Superb pictures as usual. This recipe seems like very much suitable for me. My 2 year old loves anything cakes and brownies :)). I am going to try this with jaggery for him. The only thing I am not having is cherries. Can I leave it?
Thanks very much for the recipe Nags,
love,
Deepthy
nags says
December 25, 2015 at 11:05 pmYes sure you can omit the cherries
Akshata says
December 24, 2015 at 5:42 pmCan you give substitute for egg in this recipe
nags says
December 24, 2015 at 6:02 pmYou can substitute 1 egg with 1/4 cup thick, plain curd (yogurt) or 1 egg = 1 tbsp flax seed powder + 3 tbsp warm water