Cinnamon Spice Chocolate Brownies

Submitted by Queen Dana

"From Better Homes and Gardens September 2009."

 

• Ready In: 25mins
• Ingredients: 16
• Serves: 16

ingredients

• nonstick cooking spray
• 1⁄4 cup butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1⁄3 cup cold water
• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1⁄2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1⁄8 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄8 teaspoon ground ancho chile pepper or 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1⁄3 cup bittersweet chocolate or 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate piece
• 2 tablespoons hot strong coffee (optional)
• powdered sugar, and (optional) or cinnamon sugar (optional)

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x9x2-inch baking pan with foil, extending foil up over edges of pan. Lightly coat the foil with nonstick spray. Set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan melt butter; remove from heat. Whisk in sugar and water. Whisk in eggs, oil, and vanilla until combined. Stir in flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and ancho chile pepper. Stir in chocolate pieces. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake for 23 to 25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan by lifting up on the foil. If desired, brush hot cake with coffee. Cool completely.
4. Cut into bars. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and/or cinnamon-sugar. Makes 16 brownies.

Reviews

[Studentchef]

These were so moist, they were divine! The cinnamon and cayenne pepper really compliment each other, so it was a bit of sweet and hot at the same time. I used the icing sugar for the topping, and it made the brownies all the more tempting to eat.

 

[Lucky in Bayview]

We loved these. So, so good! To us they were a cross between a brownie and cake. Really nice texture and so moist. We loved the subtle heat from the cayenne and cinnamon. I accidentally added the 2 T. of coffee to the batter. These came out so well, that I'll do that again next time I make them. I served them with vanilla bean ice cream. DH commented how good these were with each bite. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

 

[Maryland Jim]

What a great and easy recipe. The only change I made was that I added a 1/2 teaspoon of the ground ancho chile pepper instead of 1/8 of a teaspoon. The extra heat did nothing to distract from the great flavor. Made this for ZWT8 "Food of the Aztecs" Challenge, which the recipe has both vanilla and chocolate. Made for The Wild Bunch.

 

[JackieOhNo!]

I loved the one-bowl (or pot, I should say) preparation of this recipe. These actually came together very quickly. I used nonstick aluminum foil in the pan, which worked out perfectly. I used ancho chile powder and bittersweet chocolate pieces. I found that the batter did not spread evenly easily in the pan and only needed 23 minutes to bake. I did brush the brownies with the coffee and sprinkled them with powdered sugar. I found the texture to be more cake-like and not as moist as I would have expected. I didn't notice the chile at all but the flavor is a very rich chocolate a pronounced cinnamon flavor. Very nice. Made for ZWT 8.

 

[sofie-a-toast]

Made this for ZWT. Great taste, definintely not spicy so don't be scared of the cayenne. The chocolate pieces throughout really made a difference. My texture turned out more like a cake than a brownie. I also had to cook significantly longer than indicated.