Fresh Cherries Make These Brownies Something Special
Fresh cherries behave differently in a brownie than dried cherries or cherry preserves. As they bake, they soften and release some of their juices directly into the surrounding chocolate batter.
I like quartering the cherries rather than chopping them into small pieces. This keeps them large enough that you get an actual bite of cherry rather than having the fruit disappear into the brownie.
After pitting and quartering the cherries, let any excess juice drain away while you prepare the batter. You want all that beautiful cherry flavor, but you don’t need the extra liquid that collects on the cutting board added to the batter.
Why Add Espresso Powder to Brownies?
Espresso powder may seem like an unusual ingredient when you aren’t making coffee brownies, but its job here isn’t to make the brownies taste like coffee.
A small amount of espresso powder deepens and enhances the flavor of chocolate. The bitterness and roasted notes in coffee complement similar flavor compounds in cocoa, making the chocolate taste richer and more complex.
With only one teaspoon in the entire batch, the espresso stays firmly in the background. What you taste is a deeper chocolate flavor that stands up beautifully to the sweet, juicy cherries.
If you don’t have espresso powder, you can simply leave it out. The brownies will still be delicious.
Why Sift the Cocoa Powder?
Cocoa powder has a habit of forming stubborn little lumps, and those lumps don’t always disappear once they are mixed into a thick brownie batter.
Sifting the cocoa powder and flour together breaks up those lumps before they ever reach the batter. It also helps distribute the dry ingredients evenly, so you can fold them in with less mixing.
If you don’t own a traditional flour sifter, don’t worry. A fine-mesh strainer works perfectly well. Add the flour and cocoa powder and gently tap or shake them through the strainer into the bowl.
Fresh Cherry Brownies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3/4 cup pure cane sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp espresso powder
- 1½ cup fresh cherries, pitted and quartered
- 1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips, optional
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 7×11-inch baking pan or line it with unbleached parchment, leaving enough parchment extending over the sides to use as handles for lifting the brownies from the pan.Pit and quarter the cherries. Set them aside while you prepare the batter, allowing any excess juice to drain off.Melt the butter. While it is still warm, whisk in the cane sugar and brown sugar until well combined. Let the mixture cool for a couple of minutes.Whisk in the eggs and vanilla until the mixture is smooth and glossy.Sift the cocoa powder and flour together into the wet ingredients. If you don't have a sifter, a fine-mesh strainer works just as well. Add the espresso powder and kosher salt, then fold everything together just until no dry streaks remain.Gently fold in the quartered cherries and the chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips, if using.Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. Bake for 25–32 minutes, beginning to check at 25 minutes. Insert a tester into an area of brownie without a cherry. The tester should come out with moist, fudgy crumbs attached but no raw batter.Place the pan on a wire cooling rack and let the brownies cool in the pan for about 20 minutes. Using the parchment as handles, carefully lift the brownies from the pan and transfer them directly to the wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- Sifting the cocoa powder and flour helps remove lumps from the cocoa and makes the dry ingredients easier to incorporate without overmixing. A fine-mesh strainer works well if you don't have a flour sifter.Allow any excess juice from pitting and quartering the cherries to drain off before folding them into the batter.For fudgy brownies, remove them from the oven when a tester still has moist crumbs attached. Baking until the tester comes out completely clean can lead to dry brownies.