Spice up Your Fourth of July with Firecracker Brownies

Spice up Your Fourth of July with Firecracker Brownies

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"The guns of the big events rumble through our pages, but the tiny firecrackers are constantly hissing and popping there as well; it appears that much of my life as a journalist has been devoted to sedulously setting off firecrackers."

Brendan Gill

I have always been fond of spicy food and chocolate so when I discovered Mexican chocolate I was in hog heaven. I have adapted my favorite brownie recipe (you can tell it's a favorite because the pages in my Betty Crocker Cookbook are stuck together.) with a couple of ingredients to make these really sizzle like Mexican chocolate. To make them even more festive for the Fourth of July, you could use a star cookie cutter instead of cutting them in rectangles. You could also decorate them with Red Hots candies or red, white and blue sprinkles.

Firecracker Brownies (32 cookies)

Ingredients:

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2/3 cup shortening (I use either butter or Nucoa margarine since it doesn't have added water like other margarines)
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 cup chopped nuts --optional (for a Mexican flavor use pumpkin seeds)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Melt the chocolate and shortening in a large saucepan over low heat (or in the microwave - 20 to 30 seconds at a go).
3. Remove from heat. Stir in sugar, eggs and vanilla.
4. Mix dry ingredients together and then stir them into the chocolate mixture.
5. Spread in 9x13 pan.
6. Bake 30 minutes or until brownies start to pull away from the pan
7. Do not overbake. Cool slightly.
8. Cut into rectangles (4 across by 8 down)

2009 © Susan K. Barton