Classic Cocoa Walnut Brownies

Y essss! It's brownie Monday!

Eating a brownie cures the Monday blues. That's what I always say.

Eric and I went floating this weekend and it was a lot of fun. I don't have any pictures though, because I didn't want to risk my camera getting wet. This was my third floating trip ever and it was much better than the previous two. I went with a bunch of girls on the other ones, and they were all drunk the whole time and getting into fights. One girl even got hit in the face with a paddle. Not fun.

We also saw Inception. Go see it! I'm a tough movie critic and I loved it.

One more thing - I bought a new vegetable I haven't tried before at an Asian market. A kabocha squash! A kabocha is a Japanese winter squash, commonly called Japanese pumpkin. It does taste more like a pumpkin than acorn or butternut squash. I roasted it in the oven and put butter, cinnamon and sugar on top. It was quite delicious. I will be buying some more kabocha very soon. I see a kabocha pie recipe in your future... maybe in the fall. :)

Lordy, I almost forgot about the giveaway winner. The winner of the Organic Chocolate Indulgence Giveaway Package, selected by Random.org, is....

#5 Lorie! Congratulations, Lorie! I will be contacting you shortly.

Thank you to everyone who entered and thank you to Oikos! I loved everyone's dessert ideas.

Do you guys like giveaways! Do you think they get annoying or do you like them?

Moving on. Recently I was craving some brownies. Like, classic chocolate brownies with walnuts in them; plain and simple. I didn't have a lot of chocolate on hand (just 1/2 cup chocolate chips), so I created a recipe using cocoa powder instead.

I toasted walnuts and added them to the brownie batter.
I just typed brownie butter. I'm tired. But yes, there's butter in the recipe too.


Then I threw the rest of the chocolate chips in there also. Would you look at these brownies? They're so pretty, they make me want to cry.


Oh beautiful brownies, how I love you. I think you all will like this recipe. It's simple and there's nothing nutty going on with it, except for the nuts. That's an Eiffel Tower plate they're sitting on, by the way. I really don't like how that looks.

Classic Cocoa Walnut Brownies (By Me)
Printable Recipe

1/2 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts, toasted
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line an 8x8-inch baking dish with foil; coat foil with cooking spray.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; continue to cook, stirring frequently, for 2-3 minutes or until butter browns and starts to foam. Remove pan from heat.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on high speed, beat eggs and sugar for 3 minutes. Beat in browned butter and vanilla for an additional 1 minute. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in dry ingredients until combined - about 1 minute. Stir in walnuts until combined. Scrape and press batter evenly into baking dish. Evenly sprinkle with chocolate chips.

Bake for 16-18 minutes or until set and edges look crusty. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes 9 brownies