Just in Time for Labor Day: Glover Gardens Triple-Chip Brownies

Hey there, Glover Gardens Readers! It’s the Labor Day Weekend in the US and that means a day off, cookouts, seafood boils and parties with neighbors, right?

We’re living that Labor Day Life, my friends!

We were guests at a neighbor’s (delicious) seafood boil yesterday, gladly helping to devour a bushel of Mississippi Gulf Coast blue crabs with requisite corn, potatoes and sausage, nicely spiced from their warm bath with those fresh caught crabs. Of course we couldn’t go empty-handed, so I made garlic bread, lemon bars and brownies. I couldn’t find a brownie recipe that excited me, so I used one from an old cookbook as a starting point and played around with it, adding some ingredients and increasing others… you know how it goes once you get into test kitchen mode.

My brownie exploration yielded great results, so of course I’m sharing the recipe with you, Dear Readers. The Triple-Chip Brownies have four kinds of chocolate in them (if you make the frosting), plus three kinds of chips: peanut butter, semi-sweet chocolate and white chocolate. The recipe works because it’s rich and dense with a deeply chocolate flavor that’s chocoholic-worthy and there’s a nice textural mix, a hint of the ever-satisfying salty-sweet approach that comes from peanut butter and chocolate, and goodies in every bite.

You might just need to make these brownies for a Labor Day cookout.

Or for a Sunday afternoon snack, or because you need a chocolate fix.

Or to make sure someone knows you really, really love them.

Or for no reason at all other than the fact that you deserve this chocolaty goodness right now.

Triple-Chip (Quadruple-Chocolate) Brownies

Ingredients

Brownies

• Cooking spray
• 3/4 cup flour, plus a little for the pan
• 1 tbsp cocoa
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp water
• 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
• 1 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten with a fork
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, preferably toasted
• 1 cup peanut butter chips
• 1 cup white chocolate chips

Optional Frosting

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate
• 2 tbsp butter
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp milk or half and half (or more)
• Optional – 1 tsp Kahlua (or more) or coffee

Preheat the oven to 325°. Spray a 9″ square or 11″ x 9″ baking pan with cooking spray and sprinkle with flour. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt and set aside.

Combine the butter, sugar, water and 1 cup of the chocolate chips in a saucepan and cook over low heat until the butter and chocolate are completely melted and everything is thoroughly combined. Add the chocolate mixture to the bowl with the flour mixture and stir to combine, then add the vanilla and eggs and stir again. Add the nuts, remaining chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and white chocolate chips and stir until evenly distributed. The batter will be very thick.

Spread the batter into the baking pan using a rubber spatula to even it out across the pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the brownies are done to your liking (be sure to test them at 35 minutes).

If you are frosting the brownies, wait until about ten minutes before the brownies are done and then melt the chocolate square in the microwave, following the instructions on the package. (You can also do this in a small saucepan but it is really easy in a microwave.) Melt the butter and then add to the chocolate in a medium bowl and stir in the powdered sugar, pinch of salt, milk and (optional) Kahlua or coffee. Stir until smooth, adding more milk and/or Kahlua to make a smooth and spreadable frosting.

Let the brownies cool for about 5 minutes after removing them from the oven, then spread the frosting evenly over them while they’re still warm. Then let the brownies cool completely before cutting into squares in your desired size and remove from the baking pan. Cover and store at room temperature.

Notes

• In my humble opinion, any recipe with nuts in it is better if they are toasted. But if you don’t have time, don’t hesitate to use them raw. If you do want to toast the nuts, it’s easy! Just heat your oven to 350°, put the nuts on a sheet pan, and toast until they’re fragrant and lightly browned, from about 6-8 minutes. Remove them from the sheet pan immediately after you take them out of the oven, or they’ll continue cooking and might get past the point of toasty perfection.
• The frosting is great but you should consider it optional. These dense and dark brown little squares of fudgy-chunky-rich goodness are quite good without additional embellishment. In fact, if you’re doing an outside party or picnic, I’d recommend that you go frosting-free unless you can store the brownies inside.
• If you’re making the frosting and want an over-the-top version of these brownies, increase the chopped nuts by a half cup and add them to the frosting.
• Nut allergies abounding? Just leave them out, along with the peanut butter chips. It will still be a delightful bite.
• This is a rich dessert, so consider cutting them in smaller squares than you normally might, especially if you are frosting them.

Join Me in the Kitchen

And You?

Do you have a favorite brownie recipe? Would you make these brownies that are studded with three kinds of chips, a ton of nuts and a 4-chocolate pedigree? Let me know if you do, and Happy Labor Day Weekend, if you’re in the United States. Happy Weekend, otherwise. 😊

© 2023, Glover Gardens