Black Forest Brownies are the perfect thick, fudgy, dark chocolate brownies with melty chocolate chunks and maraschino cherries throughout.
This delicious Dessert Recipe is inspired by black forest cake, but made into a Brownie Recipe. Turning it into a brownie dish makes it easier to take to your next bake sale, potluck, or party. It’s the perfect transportable chocolate dessert in a hurry.
BLACK FOREST BROWNIES
A traditional Black Forest Cake is a chocolate sponge cake with layers of cherry filling. Black Forest Brownies similarly have that perfect combination of cherries and chocolate. By mixing maraschino cherries and chocolate chunks into the traditional chocolate brownie recipe, you get an irresistible cherry chocolate combo.
This cherry brownie recipe is so much easier to throw together than assembling layers of cake. However, you can still dress up the dark chocolate brownies with toppings so they’re fit for a special occasion. Try adding a drizzle of Chocolate Ganache, sprinkling on some powdered sugar, or adding chocolate curls. You could even spread Cream Cheese Frosting over them after they’ve cooled.
Black Forest Cherry Brownies also taste great with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream. The rich chocolate taste and the cool vanilla ice cream make the perfect combination for an easy and indulgent dessert that’s easy to throw together in your own kitchen.
Black Forest Cherry Brownies might be the fudgiest brownies you’ll ever make. The rich chocolate taste is perfectly paired with the sweet cherries and a bit of rum to add some complexity to the flavor. If you like the chocolate brownie flavor combined with cherries, then be sure to try Cherry Cheesecake Brownies next. Both recipes bring sweet and tangy fruit to the classic fudgy brownies.
MORE BROWNIE RECIPES
Oreo Brownies
Iced Strawberry Brownies
Buckeye Brownies
Coconut Macaroon Brownies
TIPS FOR MAKING BLACK FOREST BROWNIES
- Prep time: Preheat the oven and prep your baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. You’ll also want to drain cherries of any cherry juice, pat them dry, and chop them into coarse chunks to get them ready for the recipe.
- Chocolate Brownie Batter: Bring ⅓ cup of water to a boil, or do a full ½ cup if you’re leaving the rum out of the recipe. Once the water is boiling, turn off the heat and add the butter and cocoa powder. Whisk the chocolate mix together until well combined. Then pour the mixture into a large mixing bowl. Add in the sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and rum. You can mix the ingredients by hand or use a handheld mixer to combine until creamy. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Mix-ins: Add the chocolate chunks and cherries to the chocolate brownie mix. Stir until they’re distributed throughout the batter.
- Baking time: Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, and use an offset spatula or butter knife to spread it into an even layer. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Stick a toothpick in the center to make sure they’re baked through before taking them from the oven and letting them cool.
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VARIATIONS ON BLACK FOREST BROWNIES
- Chocolate: You can use different kinds of chocolate chips as mix-ins with the brownie recipe. Try dark chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, or white chocolate chips to go along with the baking chips in the recipe.
- Fresh cherries: Although we’ve used maraschino cherries in these decadent cherry brownies, you could also make them with fresh cherries. One of the problems with a fresh cherry filling is that fresh cherries usually have pits, which is not pleasant to bite down on in your brownies. So, you’ll either want to buy pitted cherries or remove the pits from the fresh cherries yourself.
- Cherry Pie filling: Another option for your cherry flavoring in the recipe is using a canned cherry fruit pie filling. Instead of mixing the fresh cherry sauce directly into the brownie batter, spread a layer of it in the center. Pour half the batter into the pan, top that with the cherry pie filling, and then pour the rest of the batter over the top.
MORE CHERRY RECIPES
Cherry Bars
Cherry Chocolate Cream Cheese Bundt Cake
Chocolate Cherry Texas Sheet Cake
Cherry Chocolate Dump Cake
HOW TO STORE BLACK FOREST BROWNIES
- Serve: Let the Black Forest Cherry Brownies cool before you slice and serve them.
- Store: For storage, you can cover the brownies in plastic wrap or transfer them to an airtight container. They’ll last for 3-4 days at room temperature or for up to 1 week in the fridge.
- Freeze: You can also freeze these gorgeous cherry brownies for up to 3 months. Slice them into squares, and put them in an airtight container separated by parchment paper so that they don’t stick together.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup water
- 2/3 cup unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons rum , optional
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chunks
- 1 cup maraschino cherries , patted dry, and chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 baking dish with baking spray.
- Bring water to a boil in a saucepan.
- Turn off the heat, add in the butter and cocoa powder.
- Whisk until completely blended.
- Pour mixture into large mixing bowl.
- Whisk in the sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and rum until creamy.
- Add flour, baking soda, and salt until just combined.
- Stir in chocolate chunks and maraschino cherries.
- Pour into a baking dish and spread evenly.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes.
- Cool completely before slicing.
Nutrition
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These recipes taste so good you should try some.
If I substitute gluten free flour, what would be the temperature and time adjustment?