These ginger-orange brownies are delicious, fudgy brownies with a hint of orange, ginger, and salt.
Ever since moving to Denver I feel that I bake much less than I used to. I think a large part of it is that I used to bake a lot on the weekends; however, now that I have easy access to the mountains and an overwhelming amount of things to see I try to spend the bulk of my weekends out exploring rather than in the kitchen experimenting.
I mean, when you have the chance to go see this and this and this and this can you really blame me!?
But then there are things like this – these ginger-orange brownies.
They make me remember how much I love to bake (and eat) brownies.
Surely, there is plenty of time to both bake and explore.
Ginger and orange and brownies may seem like a strange combination, but it works. Quite well, actually.
Or at least it does in my opinion. Bake them and let me know your thoughts!
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- zest from one orange
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter
- 6 oz bittersweet chocolate
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
- 3 eggs
- 3 ounces high quality dark chocolate, chopped (I used a Lindt Intense Orange chocolate bar)
- Sea salt (optional)
- Pre-heat the oven to 350° F. Take two pieces of parchment paper and place them perpendicularly in an 8x8” baking pan. Leave some overhang so that the brownies can easily be lifted out of the pan. Grease with butter or oil.
- Add the sugar and orange zest to a bowl. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers until fully combined. Set aside.
- Combine the cocoa powder, flour, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Melt the butter and bittersweet chocolate in a double boiler (a saucepan over a larger saucepan of boiling water) or in the microwave (heat for 30 seconds then stir, continuing this pattern until everything is melted). Let this cool slightly.
- Whisk in the vanilla extract, espresso powder, and orange-zested sugar, then whisk in the eggs one at a time.
- Stir in the dry ingredients, then fold in the chopped chocolate.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and top with a generous amount of sea salt.
- Bake for about 25-30 minutes. Do not overbake! Brownies can be slightly underdone and gooey (<-- the best!).
