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These Black Forest Brownies are rich chocolate brownies combined with cherry pie filling and then topped with a fudgy chocolate ganache!
Our Black Forest Cake is such a huge hit so we decided to create these black forest brownies for a fun twist! The combination of the fudgy brownies, cherries and chocolate ganache are the perfect match and a chocolate lovers dream. Here are some of our other favorite black forest desserts: Black Forest Trifle, Black Forest Cookies and Black Forest Cheesecake.
Why You’ll Love These Black Forest Brownies
- Quick and Easy – 15 minutes of prep is all you need to make these brownies with impressive results.
- Valentine Favorite – We love making these black forest brownies for Valentine’s day, but also love making them throughout the year!
- Versatile – These are great even if you leave the ganache off or even if you do not have the cherry pie filling.
Ingredients Needed
You need some basic ingredients that most people have on hand other than the cherry pie filling.
- Butter – Unsalted.
- Sugar – Granulated
- Eggs – Room temperature.
- Vanilla – Pure vanilla extract is best.
- Dry ingredients – Cocoa powder, all-purpose flour, salt and baking powder.
- Mini chocolate chips – These are used inside of the batter.
- Cherry Pie Filling – The pie filling needs to be drained and the actualy cherries added into the batter.
- Chocolate chips – You will use semi-sweet chocolate chips for the chocolate ganache.
- Heavy whipping cream – This is mixed with the chocolate chips to create a smooth ganache.
What is Ganache?
Ganache is a gift from France made of chocolate and cream. You can use it in lots of recipes as a filling, glaze, icing or sauce. If you change the ratio of heavy cream to chocolate, you can even make truffles that are amazing.
The trick to great ganache is to whisk it correctly. The goal is to make certain it’s really whisked well until it’s beautifully smooth. Always use small circles with your whisk, going in the same direction. (For example, clockwise.)
How To Make Black Forest Brownies
Just a few simple steps!
- Prepare the baking dish. This brownie recipe calls for a 9×13 pan.
- Mix the brownie batter. Then fold in the cherries reserving a handful to place on top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Allow to cool before adding the ganache.
- Make the Ganache. Combine the chocolate chips and heavy cream. Heat in the microwave in 30 second increments until melted. Whisk until thickened.
- Spread the ganache over the cooled brownies. Allow to harden for about 20 minutes. Cut into squares and serve!
Tips and Variations
- Heavy Cream. Be sure to heat the heavy cream in short increments in the microwave.
- Cherries. You can replace the cherries from the cherry pie filling by simply adding maraschino cherries.
- Leftover Cherry Filling. You can save the leftover pie filling for another use like serving over ice cream. Simply spoon it into a container and keep it in the fridge until ready to use. You can also skip adding the cherries into the batter. Once the brownies are done, Pour the cherry pie filling (with the cherry sauce) on top before serving.
- Variations. Change up the flavor of these brownies by using different chocolate chips like peanut butter chips, dark chocolate chips, or even white chocolate chips.
Serving and Storing
- Serve. These are great served warm with a scoop or vanilla ice cream or top with a dollop of whipped cream.
- Refrigerate. Store the brownies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days.
- Freeze. Place the brownies in a airtight container in the freezer for up to a month and thaw in the fridge overnight.
Black Forest Brownies
These Black Forest Brownies are rich chocolate brownies combined with cherry pie filling and then topped with a fudgy chocolate ganache!
Servings: 18
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
- 21 ounce cherry pie filling drained
Chocolate Ganache
- 1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips plus more for topping
- 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×13 pan with parchment paper.
- In a large glass bowl, melt butter in the microwave in 30 second increments.
- Using a hand mixer, add in the sugar, eggs, vanilla, cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder mixing between each addition.
- Fold in the mini chocolate chips.
- Using a fork, lift some cherries out of the pie filling and tap the edge of the bowl. You don't want any of the filling from the cherries to get into your brownie mix. Set aside some cherries for topping.
- Gently fold in the cherries in until combined.
- Pour brownie mix into prepared baking dish. Add the reserved cherries on top of the batter.
- Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool on the counter completely
Chocolate Ganache
- Using a medium microwave safe bowl, combine the chocolate chips, and heavy whipping cream. Heat in increments of 30 seconds until the chocolate chips start to melt.
- Whisk until chocolate is completely melted and the ganache starts to appear thick.
- Scoop some ganache into a piping bag to use later (optional for drizzling).
- Pour the remaining ganache onto the cooled brownies. Allow for the ganache to harden for 20 minutes.
- Cut the tip off the piping bag and drizzle onto the brownies.
Last Step:
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Store the brownies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days.
Nutrition
Serving: 18g | Calories: 401kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 81mg | Sodium: 96mg | Potassium: 216mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 31g | Vitamin A: 607IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 2mg
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2 comments on “Black Forest Brownies”
You never told us the recipe for the ganache layer or where to add it.
Hi Jeanne. Sorry, we are working on updating that post as the recipe card doesn’t reflect the post. We do have a Chocolate Ganache recipe to reference. The ganache gets added to the top of the Black Forest Brownies.