Chipotle Brownies

These Brownies are brought to you by the letter B. Why B? Because I made them for my friend Becca's bridal shower/bachelorette party last weekend. To be honest, we are too old for bridal showers and bachelorette parties, but a few of us girls got together for some good food and laughs. Our tongue-in-cheek theme was hot spicy love and these brownies fit the bill. I adapted the recipe from Aaron Sanchez's Mexican brownies. To be honest though, these brownies are not very fudgy. They really taste more like delicious spicy, cinnamon-y, chocolate bread. I have a feeling that this is due to the fact that I tried to "healthy up" this recipe with whole grain pastry flour (I'm still figuring out the chemistry of substitutions as I go). Though not perfect on their own, they are yummy when served with a scoop of dulce de leche ice cream.

Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup unsweetened cacao powder
1 cup + 1 tbs whole grain pastry flour
1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x13 baking dish with parchment paper.

Melt butter over medium low heat. Remove butter from heat, transfer to a mixing bowl, and let cool slightly. Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir with a wooden spoon until combined.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cacao, flour, cinnamon, chipotle, cayenne and baking powder. Create a well in the center and pour in butter, sugar, vanilla, egg mixture. Whisk together until smooth.

Spread batter in the prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Insert a toothpick in the center to check for consistency. 

Cool in pan on rack. Then use parchment paper to lift out brownies. Slice brownies and enjoy.

Serves 15