The Best Brownies With Chocolate and Raspberries

What makes this the best brownie recipe? 3 different kinds of chocolate, my friend. And what kicks it up a notch? The presentation. It’s all about the presentation

This recipe for the best brownies gets an extra-special touch which makes them so tempting on your holiday table.

At holiday time, you want the best desserts to serve guests for parties. These may be the best brownies ever – with chocolate and raspberries for an extra special treat.

Chocolate and Raspberries for the Best Brownies

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Here are the steps to take for preparing these delicious brownies.

Prepare Your Pan and Your Ingredients

I like to use a 13 X 9-inch baking pan. Always, always line your pan with foil. This way you can pick up the entire pan of brownies and it’s easy to get the brownies out of the pan without messing up the corner pieces.

Spray the pan before you line it with foil and again to easily remove the brownies.

Gather and measure all your ingredients – this step is called mise en place and it makes the baking process so efficient. The French invented the practice of mise en place and it is still used in restaurants today.

Making the Brownie Batter

No mixer is needed in this recipe.

Place the unsweetened chocolate morsels and the butter in a stainless bowl. Set the bowl over a saucepan with a few inches of water and bring to a simmer.

NOTE: The bottom of the bowl should not touch the simmering water.

Remove the bowl from the heat and whisk in the cocoa powder, sugar and vanilla extract.

Add the eggs, 1 at a time, whisking thoroughly between additions.

Finally, add the flour, salt and the mini-semi-sweet chocolate morsels and stir with a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined.

Pour into the prepared pan. Bake in the 350˚F. preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Preparing the Brownie Rounds

After the brownies have cooled a bit, lift them out of the baking pan, using the excess foil as a handle. Allow them to cool while you make the ganache.

Using the same saucepan that you used to make the brownies, fill it again with about 2 inches of water.

Set a bowl with the remaining chocolate and the cream over the simmering water. Stir until completely blended. This will be your ganache.

Use a funnel to pour the ganache into a plastic squeeze bottle (the 12-ounce size is my favorite). The ganache will keep in the fridge for several weeks.

Use a 2~inch cookie cutter to make your best brownies into rounds.

As you place the cookie cutter on the brownie, push straight down and then push the brownie out of the cutter.

You can get 24 2~inch rounds, placing each new cutter right next to the previous one. I set my brownie rounds either on a cutting board or on a sheet pan.

Don’t throw out the brownie pieces left after you’ve cut out the rounds. They can be eaten out-of-hand, crumbled over ice cream, or rolled into balls for a truffle-like dessert. See this Fudgy Brownie Recipe Made into 3 different desserts.

Garnishing the Brownie Rounds

The ganache should be easily squeezable, but not runny. Test the consistency on a piece of parchment paper.

TIP: Either put the plastic squeeze bottle in the fridge for several minutes if it’s too runny or in the microwave if it’s too stiff. (30 seconds at 50% power)

You can see that the one on the far right was a little too runny so I put the ganache in the fridge for several minutes.

That’s much better.

Put the raspberries in a bowl with an egg white and gently toss. Place them on a piece of parchment paper and sprinkle them with granulated sugar.

Place a raspberry on each brownie.

There, you’ve made the best brownies and dressed them up for the holidays. Anyone can make a square brownie, but a round brownie is a special treat.

Enjoy the best brownies you ever tasted or made, rich, chocolatey and chewy. Serve on a pretty Christmas platter.

Other Options for Garnishing the Best Brownies

• pipe sweetened whipped cream on top
• sprinkle chopped toasted nuts on top, such as pistachios, hazelnuts or almonds
• sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar
• use red or green sprinkles on top
• for kids, press a few M & M’s on the top of the brownies when they are still a bit warm
• spread the ganache across the top or dip the brownies in the ganache to coat and garnish with raspberries or cherries.

Kitchen Tools for the Best Brownies

Here’s a whole tray of the best brownie recipe cut into rounds, covered in ganache and garnished with a raspberry.

Hope you enjoy the best brownies you’ll ever have. You might like to pair these best brownie rounds with Cherry Cheesecake Tartlets.