Recipe Friday August 8, 2008

Coffee Chocolate Brownies with Mocha Frosting
Brownies:

½ c. butter, softened
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp. instant coffee crystals
1 Box Betty Crocker’s super moist Devil’s food cake mix
1 Large egg
¼ c. water
¼ tsp. pure almond extract
1 c. slivered almonds, toasted

Frosting:

1 stick butter, softened
4 c. powdered sugar
½ c. Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup
1 ½ tsp. instant espresso Powder (medaglio D’oro, get it at Hy-Vee)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 pan. For brownies, in a large mixing bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, and coffee. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add cake mix, egg, water and almond extract, beat until smooth. Stir in almonds. Spoon batter into pan, spread to edges. (batter is stiff, don’t worry about it, you did it right) Bake 30-35 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (everybody’s oven is different, so watch it closely, I start with 30 and work my way up.) Cool completely in pan on cooling rack.

Icing: in a small mixing bowl, beat butter with electric mixer until smooth. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time, beat well after each addition. When sugar is incorporated, beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in chocolate syrup and espresso powder until smooth. ( I add more espresso powder, I like the coffee flavor) Let brownies cool. Once cooled, spread brownies with icing, and cut into squares.