Bready or Not Original: Roasted Cherry Brownies
These Roasted Cherry Brownies are thick, soft, and cakey, the strong chocolate flavor complemented by cherries in most every bite.
I looked to two older recipes of mine for inspiration as I came up with a new recipe: Fudgy Chocolate Chunk Brownies and a Roasted Cherry Brownies version I did on the original LiveJournal Bready or Not.
The result of this combo? Lush brownies that are the perfect melding of chocolate and cherry. This may become your new favorite brownie recipe.
Bready or Not Original: Roasted Cherry Brownies
Equipment
- rimmed cookie sheet
- cherry pitter
- 9×13 dish
- aluminum foil
- uneven spatula
Ingredients
Cherries
- 2 cups fresh red cherries
- 3 Tablespoons white sugar
Brownie Batter
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
- 8 ounces dark chocolate
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups white sugar
- 6 large eggs room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips or milk chocolate chips or a mix
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 400 degrees. Wash and pit cherries, then cut them in half. Place on rimmed cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sugar and stir. Roast for 10 minutes then remove from oven. Reduce oven temperature to 325.
- In a large microwave-safe bowl or in a pot on the stovetop, melt together the butter and dark chocolate until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Line a 9×13 pan with foil and apply nonstick spray or butter. In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, and salt.
- Return to the large container with the melted butter and chocolate. Stir in the white sugar until no pale streaks remain. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Gradually fold in the dry ingredients until no white is visible. Fold in 1 cup of chocolate chips and most of the cherries.
- Pour batter into the prepared dish. Use an uneven spatula to spread it into an even layer. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup chocolate and cherries over the top.
- Bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour, until the middle passes the toothpick test. Set on a rack to cool for at least an hour, speeding process in fridge if desired. Use foil to lift contents onto a cutting board to slice up. Store in a sealed container at room temperature. Keeps for at least 3 days.
OM NOM NOM!
Four poems on the 2025 Rhysling Long List
Four of my poems were nominated for the Rhysling Award long list! A jury will decide the finalists from here. This is the first year that the Hugo Awards have a poetry category, and I’m hopeful that people will consider these already-recognized poems for that award as well.
Here are links to each of them:
Short form:
- “You are a Monster” at Worlds of Possibility
Long Form:
- “Defiance by Cake” at Worlds of Possibility
- “Five Nights in the Castle” in Penumbric
- “Meat, Bone, and Soul” in Haven Spec
Bready or Not: Sourdough Chocolate Loaf Cake
This Sourdough Chocolate Loaf Cake is rich with a deep chocolate flavor and tender crumb. It’s a fancy way to use up sourdough discard. My starter imbued this cake with a flavor like malt, so combined with chocolate, I was reminded of a chocolate milkshake.
When I say discard, I mean the mother starter should be 1) active and 2) likely fed the evening before if this is being made in the morning. After the starter is divided to be used in this recipe, feed the mother starter again and tend as usual.
Now, a confession: my first attempt at this recipe was a cake fail. The original Bake from Scratch recipe calls for baking an hour and five minutes. I did that, and the center of my loaf collapsed during cooling because it was completely raw inside. I did salvage the bottom, top, and sides, though.
On my second attempt, I monitored closely after the hour point, and I kept baking. At an 1 hour 30 minutes, I declared it baked, and slicing into it later revealed it was just barely done. So, keep an eye on things. I’d rather have a bake overdone than underdone.
Bready or Not: Sourdough Chocolate Loaf Cake
Equipment
- loaf pan
- parchment paper
- nonstick spray
Ingredients
Loaf
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick) softened
- 1 cup brown sugar firmly packed
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 cup sourdough starter discard 275 grams
- 1/2 cup buttermilk or soured milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Glaze
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 Tablespoon milk or half & half
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 325 degrees. Cut parchment to fit inside the loaf pan like a sling, sticking up at the two long sides. Use nonstick spray in the pan and on the parchment paper.
- Beat butter and both sugars until fluffy. Add egg. Add sourdough discard, buttermilk or soured milk, and vanilla, scraping the bottom of the bowl a few times to make sure everything is incorporated.
- In another bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet, scraping the bottom again. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake for somewhere between 1 hour and 10 minutes to 1 hour and 40 minutes. After the hour point, use the toothpick test every so often to check for doneness; a digital thermometer is also a good way to check inside, with a goal of seeing over 190-degrees in the middle.
- After about 15 minutes, use the paper sling to lift the loaf out. Let cool completely on a wire rack, speeding in the fridge if desired.
- Make the glaze. Spoon it over the loaf pan to dribble over the sides. Let set at least 30 minutes. Slice and enjoy! Store in a sealed bag or container. Cake can also be frozen in slices for later enjoyment.
OM NOM NOM!
Notes
Bready or Not Original: Red Velvet Cookies
Last month I shared a recipe for Red Velvet Brownies in Two Sizes. Today, I share a Red Velvet Cookie recipe.
These things are just so pretty. Use enough food gel to achieve a vivid red that contrasts with the white chocolate chips. The cocoa in the dough comes through in flavor, as do the chips. Really, these are fantastic for chocolate lovers.
Two notes of caution: first of all, the dough needs to chill prior to baking, as it is quite sticky, and two, if you stack the baked cookies, they might stick together, so use something like waxed paper between the layers.
Bready or Not Original: Red Velvet Cookies
Equipment
- plastic wrap
- parchment paper
- cookie scoop or spoon
- waxed paper
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick) room temperature
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup vanilla yogurt or plain yogurt or sour cream
- red gel food coloring
- 1 bag white chocolate chips
Instructions
- Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and two sugars until they are pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time followed by the vanilla. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients followed by the yogurt or sour cream. Add a few squirts of red gel food coloring, mixing in until the entirety of the dough is colored and reaches the desired depth of color. Measure out 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips. Fold them into the dough. Reserve the rest of the bag for topping later.
- Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
- Preheat oven at 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Use a small cookie scoop or teaspoon to dole out round of dough spaced out on the sheet. Add a couple of the reserved white chocolate chips atop each round.
- Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until cookies are set, then let them rest on the sheet 5 to 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
- If stacking the cookies in a container, place waxed paper between the layers to prevent the cookies from slumping together. Cookies will keep well for at least 3 days stored in a sealed container at room temperature.
