Ginger chocolate brownies, anyone? What about spiking the batter with chili powder for some sweet heat? If you think about it, our favorite brownie recipes are really just a base for whatever else we feel like adding in - and once you start experimenting, it's very hard to stop!
Make a batch of your favorite brownies (or try our personal favorite recipe!), then play around with mixing in some of these ingredients to the batter. You can add more than one ingredient from each category, but don't go too far over the recommended total amount.
1. Add 1-3 Teaspoons of Any of These:
Cinnamon
Chili Powder
Instant Espresso (or Coffee) Powder
Ginger (powdered or freshly grated)
Lemon Zest
2. Add 1 Cup of Any of These:
Chocolate Chips
Butterscotch Chips
Mint Chips
Toffee Chips
Chopped Nuts
Dried Fruit
Coconut
Candied Ginger
3. Top Baked Brownies with Any of These:
Chocolate Ganache
Buttercream Frosting
Simple Glaze
Powdered Sugar (only once the brownies have completely cooled or the sugar will melt)
Dulce de Leche
Crushed peppermints
What other ingredients do you like adding to brownies?
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Oh I had not thought of some of these. YUM! Okay, I know, I know, like any of us need the extra calories, but my 2 favorite brownie mix-ins are cream cheese or candy bars. Oh, heaven in an 8X2 pan! (And the Neufchatel cheese decreases the fat by some amount....)
cocoa nibs!
I usually only put one mix-in in my brownies...
Instant espresso powder is a MUST! I use it in almost all of my chocolate desserts now, and it really brings out the flavor of the chocolate. If it's good enough for Ina... :)
Andes mints melted on the top! A hard mint glaze on soft brownies!!
salted soy nuts in the batter, and fleur de sel on top.
I love topping brownies, or any chocolate baked goods, with sea salt!
Reese's Pieces!!! Or chopped up peanut butter cups. Or peanut butter chips. Peanut butter chocolate = heavenly!
I recently made a batch of brownies (Katharine Hepburn's amazing recipe) with about ten crushed mint Newman-Os. They were insanely good.
Chocolate bar - I cook my brownies in a loaf pans. Get a bar that fits the pan, I use Lindt bars. They come in several flavors, milk, dark, orange, with nuts....
Put half the batter in the loaf pan. Plop on the chocolate bar, add the remaining batter and bake.
The bar in the middle makes a nice surprise and visual detail.
My number one favorite thing to add in is big flakes of sea salt - you just need a tiny bit and you sprinkle it on top before baking. Swirl in with a knife. Tastes especially good with a dark chocolate brownie recipe.
Lately I've been loving cocoa nibs in brownies.
Cheesecake brownies! And, of course, goat cheese brownies. Sounds weird, but tastes delicious, especially with a dark chocolate brownie.
There's a Maida Heatter recipe out there that includes york peppermint patties in a layer in the middle and it is PHENOMENAL. I call them my "showstopper" brownies because the patties stay kind of whole and you end up with a really pretty layer of mint sandwiched between brownie. Anyway, I think you could probably cheat and use any brownie recipe (or mix....) and just layer the mints within to achieve the same result, though the brownie batter recipe itself is pretty fantastic.
Raspberries! I pour 1/2 of the batter in the pan, then stud the batter with frozen or fresh raspberries. Pour the other 1/2 on top and bake. So simple and so tasty!
@phoxx - wow, great idea!
I chopped up reeses pb cups and added them... so yummy.
Just plain, with crunchy corners for me please. Maybe the espresso/coffee powder. Stuff in brownies is like pulp in orange juice to me.