Kitchen Sink Brownies

TGIF.  And…even better.  It’s a Friday before a 3-day weekend.

I figured I should post these monstrosities of brownies on a holiday weekend.  That way,  if you are going to a cook-out or a get-together and you want to be the hit of the party for chocolate-lovers, then you can make these (warning: a chocolate/sugar coma may ensue after mass consumption of these wonders.)

I always tend to have a lot of chocolate around-just hanging out in the pantry or freezer.  These days, I am working really hard on cleaning out the pantry and the freezer since I’m moving in 3 weeks  (Holy cow!  Three weeks!)  And by working really hard, I mean eating way too much of it before attempting to go to sleep, which usually does not end well.

I also had some random pretzels on hand, as well as Oreos, Snickers, and Hershey bars.  I figured I would throw it all in the brownie batter-why not?  The nice thing is that you can add in whatever you have on hand: nuts, chocolate chips, etc.  The end result is a nice fudge-like brownie with all sorts of surprises thrown in.

Kitchen Sink Brownies

Servings: One 9 x 13-inch pan

 

Ingredients

1 and 1/2 cups flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 and 1/2 cups (3 sticks, yes, I know….) unsalted butter, melted

1 and 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 and 1/2 cups light brown sugar

4 eggs

1/4 cup espresso or very strong coffee

2 teaspoons vanilla

10 Oreo cookies, chopped

4 Hershey bars, chopped

8-10 fun-size Snickers bars, chopped

1/2 cup pretzels, chopped

 

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

2. Lightly spray a 9×13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

3. Line the baking pan with aluminum foil (lay two pieces perpendicular to each other so that there is some foil hanging off of the sides) and spray with cooking spray.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

5. In the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the melted butter and both of the sugars at medium speed for about 2-3 minutes.

6. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

7. Add the espresso or coffee, mixing well.

8. Add the vanilla.

9. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.

10. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the remaining ingredients, mixing until thoroughly incorporated.

11. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared baking pan and bake, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 55-58 minutes (Mine were a little soft still at 55 minutes, but as they cooled, they cooked a little bit more.  I like my brownies to be a little soft.  Remember, oven times and temperatures will vary.)

12. Once slightly cooled, cover with foil and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

 

Source: Adapted from My Recipes.