Today the school year began for my kids, and my first thought is, how can I support the school this year?  Being a full time working Mom, I have to get creative if I am to support the school, and still do well at work.  One thing I can do is to provide baked goods for the bake sales, even if I am unable to get away from work to man the table.  Some other desserts that are good for bake sales are disappearing nut bars and nutty s’mores.  They will all fly off the table!

These are particularly chocolatey brownies, because of the addition of some coffee flavor.  Coffee brings out the richness and depth of the chocolate by adding a slightly bitter undertone.

Ingredients:

8 oz. Semisweet chocolate baking bar

1 cup unsalted butter cut into pieces

2 cups flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tsp instant coffee (or 1 tbsp espresso or Kahlua liqueur – you can use the rest for chocolate-tinis!)

2 cups brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 large eggs

2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup roasted, chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Butter and flour a lasagna pan (9″X13″).  Melt chocolate bar and butter in a large saucepan over low heat stirring until melted.  Let cool to room temperature.

While the chocolate mixture is cooling down, chop the nuts and put them on a cookie tray in the preheated oven for 4-5 minutes.

Tip:  Whenever I bake or cook with nuts, I roast them in the oven until you can smell their oils coming out.  Roasted nuts will provide more flavor to a dish.

Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder (and instant coffee if using) into a medium bowl.  Once the chocolate mixture is cool, use a standing mixer or a handheld blender to mix in the brown sugar and vanilla.  Blend in the eggs one at a time, then the liqueur if using.

 

Slowly blend the flour mixture into the chocolate a third at a time so the flour doesn’t get lost in the air.  Stir in chips and nuts.  Pour into the greased pan and bake it in the center of the oven for 30-35 minutes.  Cool and then “dress” the top.

Best served with sifted powder sugar (confectioner’s sugar) on top, or try my orange glaze.  Can even ice with peanut butter frosting which would take it over the top (but isn’t good for a bake sale with all of the peanut allergies out there!)