Perfectly Chewy Chocolate Orange Brownies

This is the kind of brownie recipe that makes you want to decorate a Christmas tree but also lay on a beach but definitely eat the entire batch. What I'm tying to say is that this recipe cannot and will not be pigeonholed. These milk chocolate brownies have the perfect amount of density with subtle orange essence and get all chewy around the edges in the best way. I am in love.


If you've never had a chocolate orange before, you have some catching up to do. Although, the concept is simple- an orangey chocolate confection- the beauty is in the execution. It begins with an orange or four.

You follow the instructions. Whack and unwrap it!

The slices blossom out and grace you with their delicious possibilities.

So after you eat about half of the slices, things start to become a little more clear. You can do anything with these that you can do with chocolate chips. Cookies, muffins, hot chocolate, BROWNIES, and more! Brownies are the star of this particular show but the others will have their day in the spotlight, I'm sure.
The first step in our process is to get everything all mixed together. I chopped my orange slices up to make it melt more consistently.

I found that about an orange and a quarter gave me the perfect amount of chocolate for the batter. Also, since this recipe uses milk chocolate and not semi-sweet chocolate chips or unsweetened cocoa powder like the average brownie recipe it is super important not to skimp on the salt. Sometimes when I'm baking and a recipe calls for a tiny bit of salt I'm like "hmmm, maybe not this time" but it does a serious balancing act in this batter.

Another note about brownies, while we're at it, is that I like to use butter to grease the pan. Sometimes I use shortening dusted with flour or just plain old cooking spray to grease my pans but for brownies, butter creates an extra chewiness around the edges that can make a good brownie, great.

Do you use the clean toothpick method to tell when cakes are done? Good. That's very good. However, with brownies a few crumbs sticking to the toothpick is perfect. Once you take them out of the oven the brownies will continue to cook before they cool so keeping them ever so slightly underdone makes them all dense and fudgy. I am a firm believer that brownies should never be confused for cake and I will do anything to avoid it.

After they are out of the oven, looking all gorgeous and smelling all orange-chocolate-divine, allow them to cool completely and slice 'em up! I shaved up some of the left over slices with my cheese grater and sprinkled it over top for serving. These beauties are the perfect dessert for fans of this classic holiday candy and are a surefire crowd-pleaser.
Just look!!

Don't forget a glass of milk!

Perfectly Fudgy Chocolate Orange Brownies

Makes: 9-12 Brownies    Prep Time: 10 Minutes     Cook Time: 20-5 Minutes     
Total Time: 30-35 Minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 Cups Chocolate Orange- About 1 and 1/4 Chocolate Orange
• 2 Large Eggs
• 1/2 Cup White Sugar
• 2/3 Cup All Purpose Flour
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 2 Tablespoons Water
• 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extracat
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Grease a square pan with butter (I used an 8x8)
3. Bring sugar, butter, and water to a boil over medium heat in a medium saucepan, stir until sugar is dissolved and remove from heat
4. Stir in chocolate until creamy
5. Stir in vanilla and eggs until combined
6. Add flour, baking soda, and salt to batter and mix until smooth
7. Spread evenly into prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick place in the center comes out with some crumbs on it.