Dark Chocolate Raspberry Brownies

Creativity is important in baking. Don't be afraid to alter a recipe. As long as you're not changing the basic chemistry you can add or subtract to your own taste. Color outside the lines. That's what Gingerbread Bagels did when she tweaked her brownie recipe. The addition of Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Raspberry made an over the top chocolate overload. As soon as I saw her recipe I moved it to the top of my to do list. Be warned, it is very rich!

No, that is not real ants on my plate. The faux paper plates are actually melamine. They are made by One Hundred 80 Degrees. 

Ingredients:
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1Tablespoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
9 Ghirardelli Dark & Raspberry Squares (from a 5.32 ounce package of individually wrapped chocolate squares)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and kosher salt into a bowl. Set aside.

3. In a bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together the brown sugar, sugar, melted butter and vanilla extract for about 3 minutes. Add in the eggs, one a time. Mix until completely combined.
Slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix until almost combined. Take a spatula and fold the ingredients together to combine.

4. Lightly grease an 8 by 8 inch baking pan. Spread the brownie batter in the bottom of the baking pan. Bake the brownies at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Cool on a cooling rack for about 25-30 minutes. At this point the brownies should still be slightly warm but not hot. Then take 9 Ghirardelli Dark Raspberry Squares and press them very carefully on top of the slightly warm brownies.

5. Let the brownies cool before cutting. They’re much easier to cut into pieces once they’ve cooled. Enjoy!