Big Batch Brownies for the Great North Woods

The middle of August has arrived and my calendar is jam-packed! I’ve tried to squeeze  all the trips and family visits that haven’t happened yet into a few short weeks before school starts at the end of the month.

This weekend, we are off to a cabin up north in Minnesota. Some friends invited us for water skiing, kayaking, tubing and fishing, and we certainly couldn’t pass that up! Among other offerings, we brought dessert. I kept it simple, making a batch of Sour Cream Swirled Brownies. I figured I would buy some hot fudge and ice cream when I got to the nearest town, and we would have plenty of brownies for brownie sundaes and treats for two days.

This recipe is incredibly easy, even though the sour cream swirl adds an extra step. It’s totally worth it!

Start with a 3-quart saucepan, and melt the unsweetened chocolate and butter.

When the chocolate is melted, stir the mixture smooth.

Next, take the pan off the heat and set it aside to cool a bit while you beat the eggs just slightly.

Now, add all the other brownie ingredients except the flour to your pan. Pretty straightforward, and it’s nice that you can use the same pan as a mixing bowl.

Mix this until well combined and glossy.

Now add the 1 ½ cups flour and stir by hand until just moistened.

Butter or spray the 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray, and then pour in about ¾ of the batter. I just eyeballed this measurement—it doesn’t need to be exact.

Smooth the brownie mix into the pan and then you are ready to make the sour cream swirl!

The swirl is basically a batter without chocolate, and you simply mix all the ingredients together at once.

When everything is well combined, you have a creamy batter that can be poured on top of the brownie batter in the pan.

Spread it around gently with a spatula, but don’t worry about getting it to the edges.

Now spoon the rest of the brownie batter on top of the sour cream mixture, just piling it here and there.

For the final (fun!) step, take a frosting spatula or butter knife and swirl the layers together.

When it is swirled to your satisfaction, the brownies are ready to bake.

The brownies are done when they begin to pull away from the sides, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean—somewhere between 40 and 55 minutes. Mine baked about 45 minutes.

One person opted for just the brownie, which was really like a fudgy cake. I think a dusting of powdered sugar would make a nice touch if you were serving them all like this.

The rest of us opted for the fancier, more decadent version with coffee ice cream and hot fudge.

We all loved the rich chocolate flavor that comes from using unsweetened chocolate. The teenage boys especially loved them, and even though they were sneaking bites of brownies all day, we still had enough for 8 people to have sundaes two nights in a row. Try these Sour Cream Swirled Brownies for a summertime snack or when you need a quick and fun dessert—I’d love to hear what you think of this recipe and how you served your brownies!

Check back in a few days when I will share about making a fantastic cherry pie.

Liz is paid to write for the Land O'Lakes Recipe Buzz (R) Blog.