Hazelnut brownies

Chocolate pairs beautifully with a number of other flavors: for instance, I love to receive chocolate oranges in my Christmas stocking. I enjoy pairing a raspberry puree with flourless chocolate torte, and many people enjoy a raspberry mocha on occasion. These pairings are wonderful, but my favorite companion for chocolate is hazelnut. I know I'm not alone in this, as people the world over eat Nutella every day. In New York at grand central station there is a wonderful Belgian chocolate shop called Neuhaus, and they sell little pieces of chocolate, many of which are imbued with hazelnut.

Most of us know that chocolate is lovely, and I am a devotee of that squidgy, yummy confection we all know and love: the brownie! I don't always make homemade brownies; they can be kind of fussy, and one often has great results with boxed mixes. I am happy to report that I enjoy making and eating these hazelnut brownies, and I think you will, too. There's a bit of coffee in these, but it doesn't really come through in the final taste: coffee often is just a way to intensify the flavor of chocolate. The hazelnut flavor is also not too strong; it is more of an accent to the chocolate.

These make quite a few brownies. I recommend baking these in a half sheet pan, but if you don't have one, just make sure you increase the baking time by 15 minutes or so, as your brownies will be big and tall.

Ingredients

3 sticks of butter
2 bags of chocolate chips (I used 60% cocoa bittersweet chocolate)
4 oz semisweet chocolate
6 eggs
1 3/4 cups of sugar
1 tablespoon of frangelico (you could use a teaspoon of hazelnut extract, too)
1 tablespoon of vanilla
1 1/2 tablespoons of espresso powder (you could use instant coffee instead)
1 cup of cake flour (pastry flour would work, too)
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 bag of chopped hazelnuts
pinch of salt

Method:
1.) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and butter and flour a half sheet pan.
2.) Melt the 4 ounces of semisweet chocolate, one bag of the chocolate chips, and the butter together, using either a double boiler, or microwaving in 30 second intervals. Set aside to cool.
3.) Mix together the eggs, sugar, frangelico, vanilla, and coffee together with a whisk.

The start of something wonderful...

4.) Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add the hazelnuts and chocolate chips to the dry flour (this will coat them and prevent them from sinking).
5.) Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture.

The promise of good things to come!

6.)  Bake for 30 minutes.
7.) Enjoy! You might conisder dusting with confectioner's sugar. Allow brownies to cool a bit before slicing and eating.