Oaxacan Cinnamon-Almond Brownies

Rich chocolate brownies with a distinctly Oaxacan taste... what could be better?

Oaxacan chocolate is pure cocoa ground with almonds and cinnamon.  It is pre-sweetened and almost always turned into hot chocolate.  But I've been testing chocolate recipes with Oaxacan chocolate, and with delicious results.  So delicious, in fact, that you'll notice that the picture only features two tiny brownies and a pile of Oaxacan chocolate.  That's because they were gobbled up before I could grab the camera.

This recipe is loosely based on a Hershey's brownie recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup Oaxacan Hot Fudge Sauce, at room temperature
• 1 cup chopped Oaxacan chocolate
• 1 cup coarsely chopped almonds

PREPARATION:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan. 
2. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in large bowl. Add eggs; beat well. Add fudge sauce and stir. 
3. Stir together flour and baking soda; add to butter mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and almonds. Pour batter into prepared pan. 
4. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into squares. 

Makes about 24 bars.

Banana Bread with Oaxacan Chocolate Chips

Mexicans often ask me what dishes are "traditional gringo food."  I'm always hard-pressed to come up with a gringo main dish, because one of the beauties of the United States is its culinary diversity.  So many dishes that we grew up with are borrowed from other countries and cultures.  However, one thing that is uniquely "gringo" is our desserts.  When I think of the US, I think of the pies, cakes, and sweet quick breads my grandmother used to make.

I snagged this banana bread recipe from The Joy of Baking, but I added a Mexican twist: my mother-in-law's Oaxacan chocolate.  Oaxacan choclate is less refined than the chocolate you find in grocery stores.  It's grittier, and it generally has almonds and cinnamon ground up with the chocolate.  It comes pre-sweetened, and Oaxacans drink it with water or milk as a hot chocolate.  It's delicious.   It's wonderful in this recipe because the cinnamon and almond flavors compliment the banana beautifully.

You can find Mexican chocolate in Mexican grocery stores.  They generally sell the Abuelita brand.  Amazon.com has some from Ibarra that is an excellent price.  It's not the same as my mother-in-law's chocolate (she grinds the sugar, cocoa, almonds, and cinnamon herself), but it'll do.  Oaxacan chocolate generally comes in tablets.  You'll have to coarsely chop them in this recipe.

If worse comes to worse, use regular old chocolate chips (which, ironically, are difficult to find in Mexico).

I've used both regular bananas and "macho" bananas (the bigger, starchier ones that are similar to plantains) in this recipe.  The end result is the same, but it's more difficult to mash the macho bananas.

This recipe makes two loafs of banana bread.  You can easily half the recipe, but it's just as easy to make two loaves as it is to make one.  And this bread freezes great.  Just wrap it up well in tin foil or wax paper and stick it in a thick freezer bag to protect from freezer burn.  When you're ready to eat it, put it in the fridge to thaw a day or two ahead of time.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups coarsely chopped Oaxacan chocolate
  OR
  1 cup coarsely chopped Oaxacan chocolate and 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup (two sticks) butter, melted
• 6 large bananas, mashed
• 2 tsp vanilla

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Grease and flour two 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pans.
3. Combine all of the dry ingredients except chocolate and nuts, if using.
4. In a separate bowl, combine all wet ingredients.
5. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients.  Stir as little as possible so your bread doesn't come out tough.  
6. Add chocolate and nuts, if using.
7. Divide the batter evenly between the two greased loaf pans.
8. Bake 350 degrees Fahrenheit for an 1 - 1 1/2 hours, until a toothpick or wooden chopstick comes out almost clean.
9. Let the bread cool in the loaf pans.  Once cool, run a spatula or butter knife between the bread and the walls of the pan to loosen the bread.  Turn the loaf pans upside down to remove the bread.