Cherry and Pecan Brownies
Make the most of cherry season with these Cherry and Pecan Brownies.
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Seasonal desserts
Cherry season is in full swing so I thought it was about time I celebrated that with a new recipe! Brownies are one of my favourite things to make and chocolate and cherry is a winning combination so cherry brownies seemed like the obvious choice.
The second I see the plump red fruits in my supermarket I have to buy a punnet. But, we all know they aren’t the cheapest fruit on the shelves! Probably because the season only runs for a month or so (July is when they are at their best but you might be able to find them in June and August too).
So that you can fully load your brownies with cherries I’ve used a combination of tinned cherries and fresh cherries for this recipe. Not all tinned cherries are made equal – try to avoid the tinned “cherry filling” as its super sugary and comes in a weird sticky gloop. Just get the regular fruit in a light syrup.
Go nuts
As much as I love an ooey gooey brownie (and I really do, just look at these rolo stuffed brownies) I also think that even the best brownies can be taken to another level with the addition of nuts.
I’ve gone for a bit of an American vibe by adding pecans to these brownies. I roughly chop them before adding to the brownie mix. If you wanted you could save a handful or two for adding to the icing on top once they are baked.
I’m all about making your life easier so if you haven’t got pecans in the back of the cupboard, almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts all work well.
How to get the perfect brownies every time
Use good quality chocolate
This tip applies to all baking recipes, not just brownies. If you use the best quality chocolate you can find you will always have delicious, rich brownies.
Measure accurately
This recipe isn’t in cups and there is good reason for that. You need to be precise when measuring your ingredients so I always work in grams. Make sure you have good scales so that you are sure you are measuring your ingredients right.
Invest in a square brownie pan
Most brownies are cooked in a square, 9 inch pan. For this reason I really recommend buying one. It can be tempting to try and use a rectangular pan that is roughly the same size but you won’t get the same ooey gooey brownies from the middle and it will affect the cooking time. Invest in a brownie pan!
Line the pan with baking paper rather than greasing it
It’s much easier to get these soft, ooey gooey brownies out of the pan if you line the pan with baking paper rather than greasing it. Trust me, you will thank me later.
Don’t over mix the batter
If you overwork the batter you will have dense, chewy brownies. We want moist, cakey, ooey gooey brownies which means you should only mix until everything is combined and then leave it alone! It’s the same principle as when making muffins.
Level the batter in the pan before baking
If you want perfectly even brownies always make sure you level the batter in the pan before cooking.
Don’t over bake
If you over bake these brownies they will end up dry and crumbly and we don’t want that. Even worse they might even burn on the outside. Yuck! Make sure you take them out of the oven while they are still soft and a little gooey.
Cut the brownies while still warm
The secret to perfectly squares of brownies? Cut them while they are still warm.
The recipe
Cherry and Pecan Brownies
Ingredients
- 200 grams butter unsalted
- 200 grams dark chocolate
- 200 grams dark brown sugar
- 4 medium eggs
- 130 grams plain flour
- 50 grams cocoa powder
- 425 grams cherries tinned weight, reserve the syrup
- 100 grams pecans chopped
To decorate
- 50 grams butter softened
- 100 grams icing sugar
- 9 cherries fresh, with the stalks
Instructions
- Start by pre-heating your oven to gas mark 4.
- Line a 9″ square tin with grease proof paper. (See notes).
- Melt the butter in a pan along with the chocolate and sugar. Once melted completely, allow to cool slightly.
- Once the butter and chocolate mixture is cool, whisk in the eggs, one at a time.
- Next, fold through the flour and cocoa.
- Then fold through the tinned cherries (keep the syrup to one side for later) and the chopped pecans.
- Pour the brownie batter into the tin.
- Bake in the centre of the oven for 30-35 minutes or until a crust has formed on top of the brownies but they are bouncy to the touch.
- Allow the brownies to cool before making the buttercream icing.
To decorate
- Beat together the butter, icing sugar and a tbsp of the cherry syrup until smooth and creamy.
- Cut the brownies into 9 and top each one with a buttercream swirl.
- Top each buttercream swirl with a fresh cherry.
Notes
Disposable brownie baking trays.
If you bake brownies as often as I do, you might want to think about bulk buying square foil trays. They are ideal for baking brownies and they are good for transporting them too. (I often make brownies for bake sales at work so these are ideal!) You can get 20 for £10 on Amazon!Nutrition
More cherry recipes
To celebrate cherry season good and proper why not try one of these other cherry recipes from the blog.
More brownie recipes
If you can’t get enough of brownies, you’ll love these recipes.
My goodness, those look delicious! We’ve recently bought some of the most gorgeous cherries we’ve ever tasted – I should have made some of these with them!
Wow! These brownies are so gorgeous. Recently I have started full swing baking and looking for variations and would love to try these out. Thanks .
If you do make them I’d love to see a photo! You can tag me on twitter (@supper_suburbs) or instagram (@supperinthesuburbs)
Brownies with those cherries look so good, truly cherry-licious 🙂 Love that you added pecans, combined with chocolate and cherries – great dessert!
Thanks Alina, for a really decadent pudding I can recommend swapping the buttercream for whipped cream or ice cream and serving the brownies warm.
Such deliciously decadent looking brownies! I’d be tempted to eat them all, I love that cherries are in season right now!
July is just the best month for fresh produce!
They certainly do look cherrylicious. I would love to try one of those right now. I bet the flavour is amazing. Sharing now.
Thanks Jac!
It’s funny my boyfriend loves brownies unless i put nuts in them. For some reason he hates nuts in brownies. go figure. These sound delicious with the cherries! totally need to make them – just without nuts LOL
Haha I actually used to be the same until maybe 6 months or so ago. I had these amazing brownies which had walnuts in, they were served hot with vanilla ice-cream and honey. Ever since I’ve been adding nuts!
I just love cherries with chocolate and adding those delicious pecans will give it just the right blend and crunch to them of flavors
Thanks claudia, you’re right the texture really adds something!
Oh my good lord this is my heaven. Chocolate and cherries what a winning combination. I have to try these