I’m not exactly known for my great baking/cooking skills but wanted to give it try. I asked my boyfriend to select something from our Pomegranates & Prickly Pears cookbook to make. Naturally he went for dessert and chose the Southwest Brownies. I didn’t have the first three key ingredients (ancho chile powder, Saigon cinnamon & chipotle chile power) so off we went to the Supermarket (FYI: There are no alternatives for those spices). After visiting three (yes 3!!!) grocery stores, we found everything at our local Safeway (Greenway & Tatum Blvd). Overall, this recipe was fairly easy minus the fact that we drove a few places looking for spices.

Southwest Brownies

Ingredients

Brownies:
½ cup four
½ teaspoon ancho chile powder
½ teaspoon Saigon cinnamon
½ teaspoon chipotle chile powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons margarine
6 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Chocolate Frosting:
4 ½ tablespoons baking cocoa
3 tablespoons margarine
1 cup (or more) confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Instructions
For the brownies, preheat the oven to 350F.  Mix the flour, ancho chile powder, Saigon cinnamon, chipotle chile powder and salt together.  Heat the margarine and baking cocoa in a saucepan over low heat until blended, stirring frequently.  Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar, vanilla and eggs.  Add the flour mixture and stir until smooth.  Spoon the batter into a greased 8×8-inch baking pan and bake for 20 minutes.  Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

For the frosting, heat the baking cocoa and margarine in a saucepan over low heat until blended, stirring frequently.  Remove from the heat.  Add the confectioners’ sugar, milk, vanilla and salt and mix until smooth, adding additional confectioners’ sugar (I doubled what was required) if needed for the desired consistency.  Spread the frosting over the top of the brownies.  Let stand until set and cut into bars.  Serve with a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream if desired.

By, Kate Ruesch