Red Wine & Rose Water Brownies

There are two types of people on this earth. Ones who like their brownies chewy and ones who like them cakey. You just chose a side, didn’t you? It all comes down to texture preference. I was raised on thick blocks of light, neatly cut, cakey brownies. My husband was raised on thin slices of dense, messy, chewy slabs. It is a major point of contention in my house. When I make the fluffy version, my normally adoring partner looks down his nose at them, adamantly refusing to call them brownies. ‘This is absolutely delicious cake, love. Can you put some frosting on top?’ Oh does he know how to piss me off.  Clearly, the chewy team have a superiority complex. So if you find yourself on the chewier side of this argument, then I will say to you what I said to my husband as I took today’s recipe out of the oven… get lost! This isn’t the place for you, thank you for coming, now leave. Are they gone? Good riddance. For the rest of you, you’re not going to want to share anyway once you try out my Red Wine & Rose Water Brownies…

Red Wine & Rose Water Brownies

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup of red wine
• 1 tablespoon of rose water
• 1 cup of cocoa
• 2 1/2 cups of granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour (I recommend Bob’s Red Mill)
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 4 eggs

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and line a 9 x 13 inch pan with parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the red wine, rose water, and sugar.
3. Whisk in the eggs, thoroughly one egg at a time.
4. Lastly whisk in the cocoa, flour, and salt until smooth. Pour evenly into the lined pan and bake for approximately 25 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and pan to let cool. Once cool, cut into squares or use cookie cutter for unique shapes. Pipe with cookie frosting for an extra special touch. Enjoy!

Chewy-biased Valentines are overrated, am I right? So since you will, like myself, be downing a whole platter of heart-shaped brownies alone this Valentine’s Day, let’s agree that cakey is best. Extra bonus, you’ll have an almost-full bottle of red wine left over. Not sharing. Cakey brownies. Red wine. It’s a win-win-win. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Get more dessert recipe ideas in my ‘Sweets’ section here!