I thought that I would do a quick and easy giveaway this week, using my all-around go-to brownie recipe, and this time add toffee bits and toasted pecans. I love this brownie recipe — it comes together in minutes, is a million times better than “the box” and it really versatile. And just to be creative, I used a cookie cutter to make the cuts round on these Toffee Pecan Brownie Bites.
Ingredients
1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso (optional)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon table salt
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1 cup toffee chips
Directions
Heat oven to 350F degrees. Make a foil sling for your 13 x 9 inch pan. Spray with nonstick cooking spray.
Whisk cocoa, espresso powder (if using), and boiling water together in large bowl until smooth. Add unsweetened chocolate and whisk until chocolate is melted. Whisk in melted butter and oil. Add eggs, yolks, and vanilla and continue to whisk until smooth and homogeneous. Whisk in sugar until fully incorporated. Add flour and salt and mix with rubber spatula until combined. Fold in bittersweet chocolate pieces, toasted pecans and toffee bits, reserving a few to sprinkle on top.
Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake until toothpick inserted halfway between edge and center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes. If you like more cake-like brownies, bake for 5 minutes longer. Transfer pan to wire rack and cool 30 minutes.
Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Return brownies to wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour more. Using a cookie cutter, cut to 2 inch circles (or you can just cut with a knife into 2-inch squares, if you don’t have a cookie cutter).
