Ghirardelli Brownies with a Surprise

 

It was finally time for me to make something sweet during this vacation.  What would it be?  Coconut cake?  Oatmeal raisin cookies?  I was really at a lost until my mother suggested making brownies.  Of course, only the best recipe would do, and without a doubt that would the Ghiradelli brownie recipe.  Upon taking the first bite my grandmother said that she had never eaten a brownie that good and "You just can't get a box mix that good."

The recipe calls for walnuts, but since I am not nuts for, well, nuts I substituted in a surprise.  It ended up adding a welcome bit of tanginess to the otherwise overwhelmingly (but good) chocolatey brownies.  These brownies will simply melt in your mouth, surprise or not. 

Adapted from the back of the Ghiradelli Sweet Ground Chocolate and Cocoa can

Makes: 16-20 brownies

Ingredients:
2 eggs
3/4 c sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 c butter or margarine, melted
3/4 c Ghiradelli Sweet Ground Chocolate & Cocoa
2/3 c unsifted flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c of walnuts (original recipe, but my SURPRISE substitutes in dried cranberries, like Craisins!)
1 c 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips (the can of cocoa says "optional," but I say "essential)

Directions:
"Preheat oven to 350 F. Using a spoon, stir eggs with sugar and vanilla; add butter. Sift Sweet Ground Chocolate with flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into egg mixture; add nuts (or surprise). Stir in chips. Spread into a greased 8" or 9" square pan. Bake 20-30 minutes (or if your oven sucks, like mine, 35 minutes). For extra chewy brownies, use 8" pan and less baking time. For cake-like brownies, use 9" pan and longer baking time. Cut into squares."

Surprise!