Twelve Days of Holiday Treats: Chocolate Cherry and Almond Brownies

Welcome to Day 11 of

The Twelve Days of Holiday Treats!

Once again, this year, from December 1st-12th I’ll post a new holiday treat recipe every day – inspiration for your holiday entertaining!

The recipes I’m sharing are small batch (perfect for this year of smaller gatherings – each recipe makes 1-dozen or a few more smaller-sized treats) that are simple to prepare and that use everyday ingredients and equipment  so hopefully you’ll be able to whip up any of these on a whim.

Today’s treat is a small-batch of brownies with glacé cherries and almonds folded through. Fudgy and dense, these are the perfect companion to your morning or afternoon coffee and they’re decadent enough to serve for dessert, maybe with a scoop of ice cream…

I’m not particularly fond of fruitcake for the holidays – it’s too heavy for me, mostly – but this is a nice compromise – and you could absolutely add different fruits and nuts here – I just happen to (secretly) love glacé cherries (the way they look and the way they pop in your mouth!).

Yield: 12

Chocolate Cherry and Almond Brownies

Print

Fudgy chocolate brownies with cherries and almonds.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

• 60g (1/3 cup) good quality semisweet chocolate chips
• 57g (1/2 stick or 1/4 cup) salted butter
• 1 egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 50g (1/3 cup ) all-purpose flour
• 50g (1/3 cup sliced almonds)
• 80g (1/3 cup) whole glacé cherries (roughly chopped after weighing)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F.
2. Lightly grease an 8 x 5-inch loaf tin and line it with parchment paper, leaving some to hang over the edges of the tin. This will help you remove the baked brownies.
3. Melt the chocolate and butter in a small bowl over a simmering pot of water until 3/4 of the chocolate is melted. You can also do this on a microwave (at 50 or 60% power for bursts of 30 seconds, stirring after each 30 seconds).
4. Remove the chocolate bowl from the hot water pot/ microwave and stir to melt the rest of the chocolate. Set aside to cool slightly.
5. Using an electric hand beaters or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the sugar and egg/ egg yolk until thick and creamy, approximately 4 minutes.
6. Add vanilla and melted chocolate and beat until the chocolate is just mixed through.
7. Add the cocoa powder and flour and mix until the dry ingredients are just incorporated.
8. Use a rubber spatula to mix through the cherries and almonds.
9. Spoon the (very thick) mixture into the prepared loaf pan and use the rubber spatula to distribute the mix evenly in the tin.
10. Bake for 35 minutes (for a very fudgy brownie) or 40 minutes for a slightly more baked version. A toothpick inserted in the middle of the brownie will not come out clean! The top of the brownies will be shiny and slightly cracked.
11. Remove the tin from the oven and allow the brownies to cool to room temperature before you remove them from the tin and allow to cool on a wire rack.
12. Cut into 12 pieces and store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  Callebaut Chocolate Callets Semisweet (small discs) 53.8% cacao 2 lbs
• 
  Good Cook Loaf Pan, 8 x 4 Inch
• 
  Reynolds Kitchens Parchment Paper Roll with SmartGrid - 3 Boxes
• 
  Cuisinart 5-speed hand mixer
• 
  Tovolo Flex-Core Wood Handled Spatula

did you make this recipe?

please leave a comment or review on the blog or share a photo and tag me on Instagram @eatlivtravwrite !

What do you say – how about switching out a giant fruitcake for a small batch of these?

Stay tuned to see what tomorrow brings and in the meantime…

Check out the rest of the 12 Days of Holiday Treats:

Day 1: Rice Krispie Wreaths

Day 2: Cranberry Cheesecake Bars

Day 3: Peppermint Bark

Day 4: Orangettes

Day 5: Rocky Road Chocolate Crackle Slice

Day 6: Candy Cane Sugar Cookies

Day 7: Orange Pim’s

Day 8: Mendiants

Day 9: Chewy Chocolate Mint Crackle Cookies

Day 10: Apricot, Coconut and Cranberry “truffles”

Day 11: Chocolate, Cherry and Almond Brownies

Day 12: Peppermint Hot Chocolate

OR

Check out last year’s 12 Days of Holiday Cookies:

Day 1: Easy Three Ingredient Shortbread

Day 2: Jam Drops

Day 3: Chocolate Caramel Slice

Day 4: Melting Moments

Day 5: White Christmas

Day 6: Langues de Chat

Day 7: Chocolate Coconut Slice

Day 8: Cornflake Biscuits

Day 9: Rocky Road

Day 10: Honey Joys

Day 11: Rum Ball Truffles

Day 12: Giant Florentine Cookie (to share)

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Please note: This post contains affiliate links. I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. This means that if you click over and purchase something, I will receive a very small percentage of the purchase price (at no extra cost to you). Thank you in advance!

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