Not Your Average Coffee Brownies

Where are all my coffee lovers? As a self-proclaimed coffee addict, I always get wide-eyed when I discover new ways to get my coffee fix. We have a tradition in our house of making brownies and watching movies on Friday nights. Instead of your run-of-the-mill brownies, I came up with these coffee brownies with a coffee ganache. And what goes better than coffee and chocolate? 

Monday was my husband’s birthday and after dinner I looked at him and said, “Let’s go to Smart & Final.” He looked back at me like I was crazy, but I bribed him by telling him he’d be getting a damn good cup of coffee out of it. We drink a lot of coffee in my house (hey… coffee addict, remember?) so I’m pretty particular on the types of bagged coffee I buy. I really love Ambiance coffee, only found at Smart & Final. I tend to favor the Kona blend, which is what I like to use when I cook as well. It’s strong enough to really let the flavor come through, especially when baking, but it isn’t bitter.

I’ve told you before how much I love Smart & Final. Every time I go I find things that I never would have expected. We ended up purchasing a case of Martinelli’s Sparkling Apple Cider for New Year’s Eve (best price in town) and we found a new Moscato (our favorite wine) that we hadn’t tried before. It’s really nice to be able to shop in a store that has bulk items like the big box stores, but I don’t have to worry about paying for a membership. Try the meat… you can’t beat the quality or the price. Really!

Okay… let’s bake!

 

Brownies are actually pretty easy to make from scratch. I used to make them from box mixes, but when I tried them from scratch, I realized that they are super easy, less expensive and taste SO much better. Plus, it’s easy to whip up a batch if you keep the ingredients stocked in your pantry.

Besides melting the butter, everything else gets added away from the heat of the stovetop. To the melted butter you add sugar and eggs until well blended and then add your dry ingredients. The trick is to make sure you spray your pan really well so the brownies won’t stick when you take them out.

Cook your brownies from 25 - 30 minutes, depending on if you like them a little more fudgy or cake-like. Everyone has a different preference. I also tend to make brownies plain, without nuts. I believe chocolate should be eaten in it’s perfect natural state… no added flavors to interfere. But go ahead and add them if you like a salty crunch.

So, now you might feel the need to just dig in and eat them all up. But WAIT! STOP! You really DO want to add the ganache. It adds that extra yummy coffee flavor.

The ganache is super easy to make. If you use freshly brewed coffee, just mix in the chocolate chips and they will melt very quickly. If you have coffee sitting around since breakfast (and honestly, I think the flavor intensifies when sitting for a few hours), you’ll want to heat it up in a saucepan before adding the chips. Drizzle over brownies.

 

[yumprint-recipe id=’1′]I know, I know… looks amazing, doesn’t it?

If you want to pick up some Ambiance coffee, Smart & Final is having an awesome promotion starting January 2nd. Customers who purchase any Ambiance coffee item will be eligible to win 1 of 10 Keurig single serve coffee makers OR 1 of 10 $100 SmartCash cards. I am SO going to stock up as much coffee as possible.

 

If you want to discover some more great recipes, check out the Smart & Final social circular. Each week they have the most amazing recipes and you can keep up to date on all the store specials.

And if you love them as much as I do, follow them on Twitter and Facebook. And if you are ready to drool, you might even want to take a look at their Pinterest Boards. But don’t go if you’re hungry. You’ve been warned.