Mike’s coworkers seem to like coffee and chocolate, so this week I decided to bake another mocha-themed treat. These brownies are adapted from a recipe I found at King Arthur Baking Company, which recently re-branded from King Arthur Flour. King Arthur has been a great guide for me in my baking; I’ve mentioned their Cookie Companion many times on this blog. Their recipes tend to turn out very well, and I imagine they have an extensive test kitchen, not unlike Better Homes & Gardens. Test Kitchen Baker is my dream career, and I like to think I’m on my way with how much adaptation goes on in my kitchen.

This recipe is a spin-off of King Arthur’s toffee coffee brownies. Instead of topping my icing with toffee chips, I chose to go with miniature chocolate chips instead. There are also chocolate chips in the brownies themselves, so that seemed like a good idea.

Ingredients

For the brownies

• 1 cup butter
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 cups Dutch process cocoa
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon espresso powder
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup chocolate chips

For the icing

• 1 tablespoon espresso powder
• 1 tablespoon hot water
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 – 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 baking tin and sprinkle the bottom with sugar; this is my tip for a slightly crunchy bottom crust that adds a nice texture to otherwise soft treats like brownies.

In a large pot, melt butter over low heat. Stir in sugar and continue heating for another minute while stirring, until the mixture is just hot. Remove from heat and stir in cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and espresso powder, then whisk in eggs and vanilla extract. Stir in flour, then chocolate chips. Spread evenly in prepared pan.

Bake for 28-30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before icing.

To make icing, place espresso powder and hot water in a medium bowl and stir to combine. Add powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon heavy cream, stirring until smooth. Add 1-2 more tablespoons of cream to reach a spreadable consistency of icing. Spread over cooled brownies, then sprinkle with chocolate chips. Allow icing to set before cutting into squares. Makes 24.