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I made these brownies for no good reason, except that I wanted some brownies. I seemed to be seeing brownies everywhere I turned and they were always saying “make me, Sara". So, I did.

There are tons of brownie recipes out there, and I wanted to try something new that I had never made. I found the original recipe on the Guittard Chocolate Company’s website, to which I made some changes. I renamed these little guys Truffle Brownie Bites, because they are so rich and decadent that they need to be eaten in bite size pieces.

Follow up:

Truffle Brownie Bites
original recipe by Guittard Chocolate Company, adapted by Sara at Imafoodblog.com
Yield: 25 one and a half-inch squares

• 10 oz dark chocolate, I used 70% Cacao El Rey Venezuelan Chocolate
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons warm water
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon fleur de sel (if you have some), or salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325ºF. Line an 8-inch square pan with aluminum foil, leaving edges long enough to easily use as handles to lift contents out after baking.
2. Heat a few inches of water in a pan for a double boiler.
3. Dissolve 1 teaspoon of instant espresso powder in 3 tablespoons of warm water. (you can use some of the double boiler water that is simmering before you place the bowl over it.)
4. Heat the chocolate, butter and espresso water in a large bowl over a double boiler. Once the chocolate and butter are completely melted, remove from the heat.
5. Whisk in the sugar, salt and vanilla.
6. Beat in the eggs, one at a time until smooth and glossy.
7. Stir in the flour just until combined.
8. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake 40 minutes or until a crust forms on top. The center will still test moist.
9. Place pan on a rack and cool completely for 2-3 hours. Brownies will cut more easily if allowed to cool overnight or can be covered and refrigerated once cooled to room temperature. Remove the brownies from the pan by lifting the foil by its edges and cut into 25 squares with a long bladed knife that has been warmed by dipping it into hot water.

If you know a vicious chocoholic or you yourself are one, this is the perfect brownie to try. These brownies are really so chocolaty it is like eating a truffle, with a hint of espresso. The bite size piece was about all I could handle at a time, they were almost too rich for me. However, this was actually a good way to keep me from eating them all myself.

I let them cool at room temperature overnight before cutting them. I did not refrigerate them or dip my knife in warm water when cutting as Guittard suggests, but can see how this would be helpful since the brownie is still so sticky.

In fact, it was wet enough the next day that I worried that the eggs were not completely cooked through. (I get paranoid about that stuff) So I ate one as a guinea pig, in the name of preventing food poisoning for my co-workers and loved ones, and I was just fine.

I actually enjoyed these better after they had a full 24 hours to relax and dry out a tad.

Here is the pan just out of the oven.

Cut up into little bite size brownies.

Treat yourself to a brownie sometime soon.