Brownies with a Special Kick

A month has passed since the start of spring which means your window boxes should be coming along quite nicely, perhaps enough for you to pick that basil or other herbed substance of your choosing. Having moved house this past weekend I have only just planted my selection of herbs (basil, mint and cilantro) so I wont be getting my fingers green for another few weeks, but that didn’t stop me thinking about today’s unofficial holiday.

What better way for you to make use of your fresh herbs than to use them in a freshly baked batch of brownies? I chose to celebrate with a handful of basil from my local grocery store, but you on the other hand can go all out and throw in whatever you have lying around in your window box, refrigerator or sock drawer.

The basil provides a subtle freshness to the cake, nothing too overwhelming or off-putting for those brownie purists.

 

Herbed Brownies

Butter for greasing

2 cups basil, minced

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 cup of flour

1/2 cup of coco powder

1 cup of sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350f. Grease a glass or other oven-proof dish with the butter. In a small food processor combine the basil and 2 tbsp of vegetable oil, process until minced. It’s important to mince rather than chop as this will draw out and evenly distribute the flavor of the basil. In a large bowl add all the dry ingredients and give a quick stir. Add in the remaining ingredients except for the basil. Mix or beat with a hand blender until all the lumps are gone, stir into the basil mixture.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.

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2 comments

  • cbr April 20, 2011  

    Never gets old, does it? 🙂

  • erica April 20, 2011  

    two cups of sock drawer would make those some pricey brownies!

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