Fresh Cherry Brownies with Almonds. Deep dish rich chocolate brownies enhanced with vanilla bean paste. These simple to make dessert bars feature fresh Bing cherry pieces and sliced almonds.
Brownies can be incredibly moist, dense, and fudgy. They can be lighter with a cake like texture. Or somewhere in between. This recipe leans toward moist and dense.
I started making brownies forever ago using box mixes. A few minutes of work and the brownies were baking. Since that time, I’ve made brownies using dozens of recipes. Sometimes I will mix in chunks or chips of chocolate, sometimes I will add in nuts.
Today, we have a brownie featuring fresh Bing cherries and sliced almonds. It’s an easy, straightforward recipe that takes minutes to prepare.
The Bing cherries are halved, and the pit removed. I like to place them cut side down on paper towels so a small amount of the moisture is taken out the cherries.
The cherry brownies are baked in an 8-inch or 9-inch square pan. I line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper with enough extra paper hanging out opposite ends to create handles for easily removing the brownies.
We start by melting unsweetened chocolate in a saucepan. This is set aside to cool.
Next we cream a couple sticks of butter with a couple cups of sugar in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. 4 large eggs are added, one at a time and beaten until well incorporated. Next in goes our melted chocolate and some vanilla bean paste. These are also beaten long enough to incorporate.
The bowl is removed from the stand mixer and the flour is folded in using a large spatula. This is the point where you do not want to over mix.
Our fresh cherry halves and sliced almonds are added to the batter and folded in. The batter is poured into our prepared baking pan. A few reserved cherries and almonds are strategically placed across the top and the cherry brownies are baked until firm in the center.
The brownies are allowed to cool completely before removing from the pan with our parchment paper handles.
You might also like our brownie cookies, blondies, and chocolate dessert bars with caramel and roasted peanuts.
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Fresh Cherry Brownies with Almonds
Equipment
- 1 (8-inch) square baking pan
Ingredients
- 112 grams unsweetened chocolate (4 ounces)
- 225 grams unsalted butter (2 sticks OR 8 ounces), room temperature
- 400 grams granulated sugar (2 cups)
- 200 grams egg (4 large), room temperature
- 10 grams vanilla bean paste (2 teaspoons)
- 160 grams all-purpose flour (1-1/4 cups)
- 1 cup fresh Bing cherry halves, pitted
- 30 grams sliced almonds (1/2 cup)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Line bottom of an 8-inch baking pan with parchment with enough parchment going up two opposite sides to create handles.
- Add unsweetened chocolate to a small saucepan. Heat over very low heat until melted. Remove from heat and set aside to cool down.
- Add unsalted butter and sugar to stand mixer. Beat on low for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape sides of bowl with spatula, if necessary.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated after each addition.
- Add the melted chocolate and vanilla bean paste to the stand mixer bowl. Beat on low until incorporated. Remove stand mixer bowl from mixer.
- Add the all-purpose flour to the chocolate mixture. Fold flour in with large spatula. Do not over mix.
- Add fresh cherries and sliced almonds to the brownie batter, reserving a few cherry halves and sliced almonds to press into the top for visual appeal.
- Spread the batter evenly into the parchment lined pan. Lightly press the reserved cherry halves and sliced almonds into the top.
- Bake 45 minutes in preheated oven. If center is still soft, bake 5 additional minutes. Repeat until the center is firm. Remove from oven and cool completely on wire rack. Remove brownies from pan with parchment paper handles.
