Gingerbread Brownies

Maybe I should call these Ginger Brownies so that you don’t think that they are only for the holidays. I love ginger and make many recipes that include ginger in some way. Many think that ginger is for fall or winter baking, but I think it is good any time of year. While these would be great around the holidays, don’t limit yourself too much!

My friend came over to do some baking and after evaluating lots of recipes, we chose to make these. We are both fans of ginger! In the end we were glad that we worked on this together, as the recipe ended up having more components than we realized. You make two different doughs and then alternate them in the pan, which would be a lot if you were by yourself.

Neither of the doughs is difficult to make, and it’s handy that you use the egg yolk in one dough and then the white (plus a second egg) in the brownie dough. I think this recipe makes for too much gingerbread dough, and I really love ginger. Instead of layering the dough, next time I would start by putting in all of the brownie batter than topping with about half the quantity of gingerbread dough. Regardless, these brownies have a great chocolate and ginger flavor, decadent but not too sweet.

Gingerbread Brownies
½ cup butter, room temperature
⅓ cup packed brown sugar packed
¼ cup molasses
1 egg yolk
1⅓ cup flour
1 teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoon baking soda
⅛ teaspoon salt

½ cup butter
¾ cup chocolate chips
1 egg + 1 egg white
 ½ cup packed brown sugar
 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
⅓ cup flour
¼ cup cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon salt

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8” square pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

Make the gingerbread dough: in a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium until light. Stir in the molasses and egg yolk. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture. Set the gingerbread dough aside.

Make the brownie batter: in a microwave safe bowl, melt the butter and chocolate chips in 30 second increments, stirring frequently. Allow to cool slightly. In a large mixer bowl, beat the egg, egg white, and brown sugar until incorporated. Stir in the cooled chocolate/butter mixture and mix until incorporated. Mixing on low, stir in the oil, flour, cocoa powder, and salt.

Spread half of the brownie batter into the prepared pan. Dot with about half of the gingerbread dough, pressing down to flatten the dough slightly. Top with the remaining brownie batter and gingerbread dough.

Bake for about 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the brownies will come out with a little bit of batter. The brownies will be slightly jiggly.
Cool the brownies in the pan for about 15 minutes and then lift them from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

Recipe from Broken Oven Baking