Gingerbread and brownies: What at first might sound like an unlikely pairing is actually a logical success. Chocolate and spice work well together; plus, both of these desserts have a dense, cakey chew, so we figured melding the two would be relatively easy. With so many bold ingredients we needed to find just the right balance of flavors, so we used only the most essential players: ginger and molasses from the gingerbread, and cocoa powder and melted chocolate from the brownies. (Other gingerbread additions such as cinnamon and cloves, or brownie enhancers such as espresso powder, overwhelmed these bars.) While we frequently enjoy the deepest, darkest of brownies, we settled on semisweet chocolate as the best complement to the gingerbread flavor. A small amount of smoky molasses resulted in brownies with superlative chew and sweet complexity. Adding ginger right to the batter made the brownies taste flat; for piquant flavor, we melted the butter that we were using for our brownies and bloomed the ground ginger in it. These brownies taste best when completely cool, so try to be patient.
Ingredients
- 1½ cups (7½ ounces) all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup (¾ ounce) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 cup packed (7 ounces) light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ⅓ cup molasses
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Make foil sling for 13 by 9-inch baking pan by folding 2 long sheets of aluminum foil; first sheet should be 13 inches wide and second sheet should be 9 inches wide. Lay sheets of foil in pan perpendicular to each other, with extra foil hanging over edges of pan. Push foil into corners and up sides of pan, smoothing foil flush to pan. Grease foil.
- Whisk flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together in bowl; set aside. Place chocolate in second bowl. Melt butter in 8-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add ginger and cook, stirring constantly, for 15 seconds. Pour butter mixture over chocolate and let sit for 5 minutes. Whisk chocolate mixture until smooth.
- Whisk sugar, eggs, and molasses in large bowl until combined. Stir chocolate mixture into sugar mixture and whisk until incorporated. Using rubber spatula, stir in flour mixture until just incorporated. Transfer batter to prepared pan and spread into even layer. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 22 to 25 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Let brownies cool completely in pan on wire rack. Using foil overhang, remove brownies from pan. Cut into 24 pieces before serving.