Chocolate Overload Brownies

How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon.
December is here before it’s June. My goodness how the time has flewn.
~Dr. Seuss

Ketchup With That turned a year old yesterday, and I’m celebrating with Chocolate Overload Brownies.

These brownies are topped with chocolate Nutella cream cheese topped with milk chocolate ganache topped with toasted hazelnuts.

That’s a whole lotta chocolate.

And another good thing is that they are easy to prepare.

While the brownies are not overbaking, you can whip up the cream cheese layer in your mixer and let the milk chocolate for the top melt in a bowl on the side.

The hardest part is chopping the nuts.

You can prepare these a day or two in advance and store in the refrigerator until you need them. Take them out an hour or so before serving to let the layers soften.

Enjoy!

(P.S. Don’t let the length of this recipe fool you! Each part is really quite quick to prepare!)

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Chocolate Overload Brownies

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

1 hr

 

These brownies are rich with three layers of chocolate and are best served at room temperature.

Servings: 20 brownies

Author: Mary Gillespie

Ingredients

Brownies

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Cream Cheese Layer

• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
• 6 tablespoons whipping cream
• 1 8- oz package cream cheese softened
• 1/4 cup icing confectioner's sugar
• 1/3 cup Nutella or other chocolate-hazelnut spread

Milk Chocolate Ganache

• 1 cup milk chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon corn syrup optional
• 1 cup hazelnuts toasted and coarsely chopped

Instructions

Brownies

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease an 8x8" or 9x9" baking pan.
3. Melt butter and chocolate in microwave by heating for 30 second intervals until both are thoroughly melted. Stir together until completely mixed. Let cool a few minutes.
4. In separate bowl, beat eggs and add granulated and brown sugar. Beat thoroughly and add vanilla. Stir in chocolate mixture until completely mixed.
5. In another bowl, mix flour with salt and baking powder. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and stir until combined.
6. Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the center of the brownies is just set. Do not overbake.
7. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Cream Cheese Layer

1. Place chocolate in a bowl.
2. Heat cream to boiling point and pour over chocolate. Let the chocolate soften while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
3. Beat cream cheese with mixer until very smooth. Add icing sugar and beat thoroughly. Add Nutella and continue to beat.
4. Stir chocolate and cream mixture until all the chocolate has melted and the cream and chocolate have become smooth and glossy. There should be no streaks of cream visible. (If any lumps of chocolate remain, heat the mixture in the microwave for 10 second intervals, stirring after each time until the chocolate is completely melted).
5. Add the chocolate to the cream cheese mixture and mix thoroughly
6. Set mixture aside until the brownies are completely cool.
7. You can make this ahead of time and store in the fridge. Let it warm up to a spreadable consistency before using.

Milk Chocolate Ganache

1. Prepare the chocolate and cream as you did for the cream cheese layer.
2. When the mixture is smooth and glossy, you can stir in the corn syrup if you are using it. It will help keep the chocolate layer glossy looking, but it not necessary in the recipe.
3. You can prepare this ahead of time and store in the fridge or at room temperature. Heat for 15-20 seconds in the microwave before assembling brownie so that it will flow over the cream cheese layer.

To assemble:

1. Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over the cooled brownies. Pour the milk chocolate ganache over and sprinkle with the chopped hazelnuts.
2. Cut into serving sized pieces with a knife dipped in hot water and wiped dry.

Recipe Notes

Using milk chocolate instead of semi-sweet chocolate in the top layer really improves the flavor in this recipe. Semi-sweet chocolate for the top ganache is overpowering.