Happy Monday!! I hope you all had a great Valentine’s Day weekend. We really didn’t have big plans (like other years), we ordered pizza for dinner and watched 90 day fiancé (one of our favorite Sunday shows). We did not exchange gifts or cards like other years either, it was more like a relaxing day for us.

This recipe is for the collab that I’m hosting today on Instagram #datenightdesserts so if you follow me there, don’t forget to check the hashtag so you can see all the delicious treats that my talented friends made.

And because the theme is “date night” I decided to make one of things that we like to eat as dessert : brownies, but I added something new to give a different “kick” to the flavor, I used freeze dried strawberries.

These brownies are fudgy and they are covered with a smooth chocolate ganache.

Let’s start with the recipe and don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @pastry_tales

Yield one 8×8 cake pan

Ingredients

For the brownies

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut in small pieces

1 cup white granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4-1/3 cup freeze dried strawberries, powder (this amount is up to your taste) . Add your freeze dried strawberries to your blender or food processor and pulse until they are finely ground.

For the chocolate ganache

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup of heavy whipping cream

For decorating

freeze dried strawberries chopped in small pieces or you can use sprinkles

Directions

For the brownies

1.- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line your baking pan (8×8) with parchment paper (bottom and sides). Set aside.

2.- In a medium size saucepan, melt butter. Add sugar and mix for 2 minutes. Then, let the mixture cool for 5 minutes. Add eggs and mix really well so we prevent our eggs from cooking. Add vanilla. Mix.

3.- Add cocoa powder, mix. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until you don’t see any leftover flour. Add powdered freeze dried strawberries. Mix.

4.- Pour brownie batter into prepared baking pan.

5.- Bake for 25-30 minutes.

5.- Cool completely.

While your brownies cool, make the ganache.

For the chocolate ganache

1.- Add your chocolate to a heat-proof bowl. Set aside.

2.- Heat your cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until you see it’s simmering. Turn off the heat and pour this hot cream on the top of the chocolate. Using a spatula mix really well until you don’t see any leftover chocolate chunks left and looks shiny and smooth.

3.- Let it cool completely.

When brownies and ganache are all cooled, spread the ganache on top of the brownies. Then, cut the brownies into squares.

Sprinkle some extra chopped freeze dried strawberries. Enjoy!