Olive Oil Brownies

Olive Oil Brownies - made January 28, 2022 from Baking with Dorie by Dorie Greenspan

1/2 cup olive oil

5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 cup (136 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (21 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt or 3/4 teaspoon fleur de sel

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2/3 cup (133 grams) granulated sugar

3 cold large eggs

1 cold large egg yolk

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 8-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In the top half of a double boiler set over hot water, combine olive oil and bittersweet chocolate. Whisk until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is smooth and combined. Remove from heat.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, salt and black pepper.
4. Add granulated sugar to melted chocolate mixture and stir to combine. Add eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, whisking after each addition until smooth and combined.
5. Stir in dry ingredients and mix until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth into an even layer.
6. Bake 28 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with a few moist crumbs, not raw batter. Cool completely before cutting and serving.

Much as I love Dorie Greenspan and her recipes, I admit I was a little skeptical about trying out this recipe. I didn't mind using olive oil and actually wanted to try this recipe primarily because it uses olive oil and I have this Baking Blend Olive Oil a friend had given me that I wanted to try out.

No, it wasn't the olive oil but the black pepper that gave me pause. Pepper? In a brownie? I was a tad nervous whether they would turn out and how they would taste. 

But faint heart and all that so I forged ahead with it. Fortunately, my fears were unfounded. This made a thick batter similar to my go-to recipe for brownies although it wasn't quite as fudgy as mine. But still, it was fudgy enough. More importantly, the black pepper in it was fine. You actually can't really taste it but I could tell there was something different about it. 

To be honest, I only had a sliver as I was packaging these up for care packages. But what I did taste was pretty good - fudgy, chewy, chocolaty with yes, a little bit of a bite. Which is why she's Dorie Greenspan and I just follow recipes in cookbooks, lol. So if you're looking for something a little different, give these a try and see what you think.