It’s Cherry Season!
It’s officially summer and there’s no better time of the year for fresh cherries. You may only be able to find them at your local grocery store or market, where they may be a bit pricey these days. Luckily, dried or frozen cherries are easy to find and can be more affordable. And if you’re lucky enough to have a cherry tree, you’ll know that those are the easiest to find and you’ll typically have far more than you need! That’s why we absolutely love creating recipes with cherries at this time of year, like our cherry cake from last year. Such a delicious fruit that adds so much flavor to desserts!
Cherry, Almond, Chocolate
What’s the best flavor to combine with cherry? Chocolate, of course! Black Forest gateau is a favorite of many, especially because the rich dark chocolate pairs so well with tart and sweet cherries. But an underrated flavor combination is cherry and almond. In fact, maraschino cherries are flavored with almonds, and almonds and cherry pits actually share similar chemical compounds that are then used to produce almond extract. So they are closely related! Plus, the two flavors just taste delicious together – like almonds do with most fruit, to be honest. Put these three complementary flavors together and boom, you have a very very tasty dessert!
Brownies, Brownies, Brownies
Now, you may be wondering how brownies have found their way onto a Scandinavian baking blog. Well, we love them! And while they may not be Scandinavian in origin, they are popular around the world and we have really enjoyed developing a couple of brownie recipes over the years. If you’re on the lookout for another fruit and chocolate combination, check out our orange and chocolate toffee brownies here. If you’re after a super chocolatey caramel combination, we have a recipe for Daim brownies too. What’s your favorite combination of flavors in a brownie? Leave us a comment below and we may even create a recipe based on your suggestion!
Rich, Balanced, Flavorful
What makes today’s recipe so special? I’ve already pretty much summed it up, and that’s the flavor combination. It’s well-balanced, which is so important when it comes to a chocolatey dessert. The cherries and lovely, both sweet and tart at the same time, while the almonds add a nice crunchy element on top. The chocolate shines through, as it should in a brownie, while the texture is nice and fudgy. Eat them warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and you have a dessert that will stop everyone in their tracks. Yum!
Ingredients for Cherry Almond Brownies
For this recipe, you will need standard brownie ingredients – butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract (can be optional), flour, cocoa powder, salt, and chocolate chips or a chocolate bar that you can chop up. We do prefer to use dark chocolate for depth of flavor. And of course, you’ll need cherries and almonds! We quarter the cherries for this recipe, so if you’re using frozen, make sure to thaw them so you can cut them into smaller pieces. If you’re looking for a quick way to elevate boxed brownies, all you’ll need is whatever the box requires, plus the cherries and almonds! And if almonds aren’t your thing, you can use a different nut to add texture – walnuts or pecans would be amazing as well.
How to Make ‘Em
We love to brown butter for our brownies, so the recipe starts with adding butter to a pot and melting it on the stove until you get nice and golden milk solids at the bottom! Just be careful to take it off the heat earlier than you think, and keep on swirling the butter – it can burn very quickly! Add sugar to the butter and whisk together, letting it cool a bit. Then, combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Once the butter and sugar aren’t super hot anymore, add in melted chocolate (either from melting chocolate chips or a chocolate bar) and whisk it together. Add in your eggs, whisking super well! Finally, mix together the wet and dry ingredients using a spatula, and add in cherries and almonds as well. Transfer to a baking pan, top with extra cherries and almonds if you’d like, and bake until cooked but still fudgy in the middle! Read the full recipe below for more detail on each of the steps. We love this brownie recipe for a decadent treat that comes together super quickly. Let us know if you try this out in the comments!
Cherry Almond Brownies
Ingredients
- 170 grams unsalted butter
- 240 grams granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste!)
- 150 grams chocolate, melted (we prefer to use dark chocolate, either chocolate chips or a chocolate bar! you can use what you have on hand!)
- 110 grams all purpose flour
- 40 grams cocoa powder
- Pinch of salt
- 200 grams cherries, pitted & quartered
- 75 grams chopped almonds
- Extra cherries & chopped almonds for sprinkling on top (optional!)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 F (176 C).
- Melt your butter in a small pot over medium-low heat and continue cooking until the milk solids start to turn a golden color. We swirl the butter after it melts to stop the solids from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Remove the pot from the heat because the butter will continue to brown – you can also keep swirling the pan to cool it down a little bit more!
- Add the granulated sugar to the browned butter and whisk to combine. Let this cool while you prepare the other ingredients.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, and salt).
- Wash, pit, and quarter the cherries. Chop the almonds into pieces if you have whole almonds.
- Melt the chocolate either on the stove or in the microwave. Add in the vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste and melted chocolate to the butter and sugar mixture and whisk well to combine. We tend to just keep this in the pot we browned the butter in – less dirty dishes!
- Add the eggs to the chocolate mixture one at a time, whisking to combine. Make sure the mixture isn't too hot so your eggs don't scramble!
- Add the wet ingredients from the pot into the medium mixing bowl with the dry ingredients.
- Start folding in your dry ingredients until well combined and there are not any dry spots. Note: If your batter looks split or lumpy, you can add a little more flour to bring it back together!
- Add in the cherries and the chopped almonds and fold to combine.
- Transfer to a parchment lined and greased baking tin (we used a 10" by 10" square pan, but you can use a rectangular pan or slightly smaller square pan!).
- Sprinkle on extra cherry pieces and chopped almonds on top (optional)
- Bake for about 25-30 minutes until a knife comes out mostly clean (it will have some crumbs stuck to it, as fudgy brownies shouldn't be totally set in the middle!). Let cool before slicing into pieces and enjoy!
