Make the most of cherry season with these Cherry and Pecan Brownies. 

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

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.