red wine chocolate fudge brownies

March 4, 2012

What do you do with that last little bit of wine?

Do you save it for the next day, knowing it will be so-so?

Do you pour it out, but feel guilty because you are a resessionista and waste nothing?

Do you go ahead and drink it, just for the sake of it?

These are my life questions at this very moment.

Next time you find yourself in this situation – shake that bottle for every last drop and bake your little bit of wine into a pan of deep, rich, and fudgy chocolate brownies.

These brownies get a double-hit of chocolate from both semisweet chocolate and unsweetened cocoa powder but you could go all triple-threat and fold in chocolate chips to the batter if you had them on hand.

The wine intensifies these little buddies and brings out major chocolate flavor.

These are brownies that are not messing around.

I also suggest not skipping the glaze – you can make it while the brownies bake – but the thin spread of red wine chocolate goodness is well worth the extra step. As the layer of fudge sets the wine flavor becomes more pronounced and turns a humble pan of red wine brownies into an ultra-decadent and fancypants glazed dessert.

Red Wine Chocolate Fudge Brownies
Makes one 8×8 pan

For the brownies:
4 ounces (120 grams) semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup (113 grams) butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup (60 ml) red wine
2 eggs
1/2 cup (100 grams) brown sugar
1/4 cup (53 grams) sugar
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) vanilla
1/2 cup (62 grams) flour
1/4 cup (25 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

For the glaze:
2 ounces (60 grams) semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon (21 grams) butter
2 tablespoons (30 ml) red wine
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 350. Butter an 8×8 pan and line with two sheets of parchment paper, then butter the parchment. Set aside.

Melt the chocolate and the butter together in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until melted and smooth.

In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, sugars and vanilla. Whisk in the chocolate mixture and then the wine. Add the flour, cocoa powder and salt and stir until the batter is smooth and has thickened slightly. Fold in the chocolate chips, if using.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a tester comes out mostly clean with just a few crumbs attached. You may need to bake the brownies for a few minutes more, but set your timer for 15 minutes and then hang out in your kitchen for the last few minutes of baking time just to make sure they don’t over bake. An underbaked brownie is better than an overbaked one.

While the brownies are baking make the glaze. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over simmering water until melted. Add the butter, wine and salt and whisk until smooth. Pour the glaze over the warm brownies and spread it to the corners so the top is evenly coated.

Cool completely and cut into squares.


 

{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }

mrsblocko December 30, 2012 at 4:23 pm

I made these and wrote about them here. I don’t particularly care for red wine, and they had a very strong wine flavor, so they were not my favorite. My family on the other hand thought they were awesome. Thank you for posting this recipe. It was fun to try something new and different1

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Lillie December 31, 2012 at 2:16 pm

Thank you for posting them on your blog and they look great. I’m happy to hear that you experimented with red wine even if its not your favorite and I’m glad that your family enjoyed them! Happy baking!

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Vicki February 10, 2013 at 12:33 am

Always have that left over bit that is a shame to waste. A definite ‘try’ on my list!

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bnk February 14, 2013 at 12:47 am

I think the baking time needs to be adjusted… I have an excellent oven it took the brownies 30 minutes to bake at 350*. I am an experienced baker and I followed the recipe exactly.

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Kathryn March 29, 2013 at 7:49 pm

Just made these brownies tonight and they are sublime! I did have to bake for 28 minutes but I’ll admit that my oven is a little wacky. Thanks so much for posting this recipe!

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Lillie March 30, 2013 at 9:25 am

I am so happy to hear they were enjoyed!! Yay!

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Kayla September 2, 2013 at 3:21 pm

I made these brownies this morning and I think they are delicious! I did not make the glaze for them because I started working on other projects and forgot. I also forgot to add chocolate chips which my brownies desperately needed because they are pretty dry. I am not sure why mine turned out so dry, I followed the recipe exactly minus the optional chocolate chips. I can understand if you like red wine these might not be too appealing, but I almost think they could use more wine. I am going to try and make the glaze now to give it some more wine flavor, thank you for the recipe! I am definitely going to make this again and not forget the chocolate chips.

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Lillie September 3, 2013 at 11:45 am

Happy to hear they were enjoyed! To help avoid them from drying out on the next batch, I’d take the pan out a few minutes before you think they are done since they’ll continue to cook in the pan. Happy baking!

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Kayla September 3, 2013 at 12:04 pm

That is a good recommendation, thank you. I thought about it and there are two things I noticed but forgot about. First, the brownies baked very unevenly in my oven and I think that was because I left my pizza stone in the oven. So the probably baked too long. I also used a mixture of whole wheat flour and white flour. I do this with everything I bake and I don’t think it compromises the texture or flavor at all but I think using whole wheat flour requires more liquid. I am going to try another batch tonight and use your recommendation plus some changes of my own. I have only been baking for about a year so I expect to have some problems in the beginning.

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Lillie September 4, 2013 at 10:00 am

Of course! Hope round two is a success. Happy baking!

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Jen September 11, 2013 at 6:37 pm

Just bookmarked this — i cant wait to try it. I’m incredibly curious

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Stella Rosa Wines February 14, 2014 at 6:11 pm

Hi Lillie! We loved your recipe and shared a link to it in a Wine-infused Dessert round-up on our blog at http://bit.ly/MTX0To. Thank you for inspiring us and our Stella Rosa fans with your creativity! If you are interested, we’d love to have you try making a dessert with one of our products. You can contact us at stellarosapr@gmail.com 🙂

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Lyssa March 7, 2014 at 6:40 pm

I made these for a friends birthday, they were a big hit!! So delicious I have made 2 more batches since the party!!

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chigu June 24, 2014 at 8:53 pm

Hi. What kind red wine use?

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Lillie July 18, 2014 at 6:33 pm

Anything you have on hand!

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Julie Sebastian January 3, 2015 at 10:06 am

Hi,
Thank you for this fabulous recipe. I made it for the first time tonight and it was unbelievably good. The couple I made this for said they were gonna adopt me! Ha ha. They were a bit drunk to be fair. So thank you!

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shelly February 2, 2015 at 4:54 pm

Loved the brownies and I don’t usually like brownies

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mindy April 15, 2015 at 5:04 pm

would a rose work?

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Mindy Nguyen April 16, 2015 at 10:22 am

Could I use a rosé wine? Or would that cool down differently?

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sheerah January 13, 2017 at 6:50 pm

Bookmarked these brownies a few years ago and just now dug out the recipe.

These may be my favorite brownies that I’ve ever made – & I’ve made lots of brownies.

I never wait till toothpicks come out clean with brownies: I take them out when they’re still a little wet in the middle but overall set and non-jiggly. Doing this makes for an extremely fudgy, rich brownie. To me, the most luxurious brownies are more reminiscent of fudge than of a floury cake.

Next time, to my personal taste, I’d up the red wine in both the batter and the glaze. And the wine you use does matter, especially with the glaze. I would use a fruity, full=bodied, smooth red, not an oaky wine with too much tannin.

I’d also melt a bittersweet rather than semisweet chocolate for the batter – but again, just my preference. =)

Thank you SO MUCH for this recipe. Perfect for what has been a rather stressful winter season.

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Diane April 23, 2017 at 1:56 pm

I was looking at this recipe today when my daughter came to me and said, I am psming, make those brownies today, please. I did and they are great~ Wine and chocolate, perfect for all women! I made with deep red wine, a bit bitter but that’s ok. We talked about using blueberry wine, I think I will next time.

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