Happy Valentine’s Day! Today we are sharing our recipe for our incredibly delicious and perfectly giftable Port Cherry Brownies. Jenn made these brownies at her bakery and they were a big hit on the day of love.

The combination of chocolate, port and cherries is perfection. And you can cut them out into hearts or decorate them with festive sprinkles. Or…if you’re like us, and you eat these all year round, you don’t have to decorate them at all.

Your loved one(s) will love you for whipping up a batch of these!

The addition of port and dried tart cherries makes for a great twist on traditional brownies!

Allow brownies to cool completely in pan before topping with ganache.

Use a water bath to gently melt the chocolate and butter with the reduced port.

For a fun Valentine’s Day twist, cut the brownies into hearts and dip in the ganache, then decorate to your heart’s desire!

Port Cherry Brownies

Brownie:

• ¾ cup (6 oz) unsalted butter
• 4 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 2 cups (14 oz) granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs at room temp
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 6 TBS Ruby Port
• 1 cup (4.5 oz) all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ¾ tsp salt
• 1 cup (6 oz) dried tart cherries, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9” x 13” pan and line bottom and long sides with a piece of parchment (creating a sort of sling). Butter the parchment and set aside.

Melt butter and chocolate over double boiler or in microwave.  Add sugar and whisk to completely incorporate.  Add eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition.  Stir in vanilla and port.

Mix all dry ingredients in small bowl. Add dry ingredients to chocolate mixture and stir until just incorporated.  Stir in cherries.  Spread evenly in prepared pan.  Bake 22 – 25 minutes until almost completely firm. Cool completely on wire rack before proceeding.

Port Ganache:

• ¾ C port
• 8 oz semisweet or dark chocolate, chopped
• ¼ cup (2 oz) butter

Bring port to boil in small saucepan over medium heat and reduce to ¼ cup, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool. Combine reduced port, chocolate and butter in bowl set over simmering water.  Stir until just smooth.  Remove bowl from over water and let sit for about 5 minutes.  Pour over brownies, shaking pan to settle evenly. Decorate as desired before ganache sets.

Valentine’s Option: cut brownies using heart shaped cookie cutter, the dip hearts in ganache and decorate as desired.

Makes about 24 bars