You know what I’m thinking….? I’m thinking today needs some serious chocolate. Oh, OH, and, and coffee! Yes there definitely should be coffee because that’s, well that’s just necessary for today! So, so, um, I made you brownies, and not just any brownies!

As far as I’m concerned these are the next best thing to pot brownies! Sorry, I’ve had a bit of caffeine today, I don’t know if you can tell. I feel like I should go around shouting “Each brownie is the equivalent of 12 cups of coffee, you can stay awake for days with no side effects, AHHHH!…sorry.” Anyone get that one? Yes, I’m guilty of being a Disney movie fan and I’m too pumped to deny it.

Geez, I didn’t even have that much, apparently I’m more of a caffeine lightweight than I thought! I’ve never been a big coffee drinker. When I was younger I didn’t even like it. I mean, I always said I did when asked because I thought it was totally uncool not to like it, but I never really did. In fact, the only time I almost liked it was when it was done would-you-like-some-coffee-with-your-cream-&-sugar style.

Of course, now that I'm getting older( I actually refuse to get older and plan to be a kid forever) I’ve started to catch on to what this whole coffee hype is all about. Yep, coffee is a big deal in around here.

So these brownies were a spur of the moment decision that somehow ended up being what they are. I started with my favorite brownie recipe (yep, everyone take a gander at my 10 second styling and crappy point-and-shoot photography. Great plan.) and then I just kept feeling like they needed to be darker. I ended up almost doubling the cocoa, using brown sugar instead of all white, and adding plenty of coffee just for good measure.

I give you the midnight mocha brownie. It may not actually be able to keep you awake for days but it’ll definitely give you a sugar rush if nothing else. And not that I can tell you from personal experience or anything, but the batter is almost as good as the brownies. Hypothetically…..

Midnight Mocha Chocolate Chunk Brownies

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Yield: 24 brownies

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup oil
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/4 cups cocoa powder
3 tablespoons freshly ground coffee beans
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
120 grams (about 1 1/4 cups) chopped semi-sweet dark chocolate or chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C) and grease a 13x9 inch baking dish or pan with oil.
   Cream butter and oil with sugar in medium mixing bowl. Add eggs, vanilla, salt, and soda and mix well. Stir in flour, cocoa powder, and coffee until batter is smooth then add about 1/2 of the chocolate chunks.
2. Scrape batter into pan and sprinkle remaining chocolate over top. Bake for about 25-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. (Stick a toothpick in a few different spots because you will most likely find some of the melty chocolate chunks.)

For more great food ideas, please do not forget to look at my other recent food posts

1. Chocolate Spelt Greek Yogurt Waffles + Maple Nut Butter Syrup
2. Moroccan Ribboned Carrot Raddicchio Salad
3. Heirloom Tomato Marinara Meatballs & Spaghetti Squash
4. Chocolate Oats & Honey Cut-Out Cookies (GF+Vegan)
5. Miso Mahi-Mahi Brown Rice Pad Thai Noodles
6. Chile Lime Veggie Burrito Bowls
7. Chocolate Covered Almond Butter Eggs - FOOD PHOTO SHOOT
8. Traditional Greek Lamb Gyros + Tzatziki Sauce
9. Mint Chocolate Chip Muddy Buddies
10. Blueberry White Chocolate Almond Oatmeal Cookies

ALL CONTENT IS MINE AND ORIGINAL! All of these food photos were taken with my Nikon D750 and my favorite Lens, the Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G. You can find out more in my INTRO POST.

And, by the way, to all the minnows out there, my intro post did a huge $0.21. The key to success on Steemit is to be consistent and persistent. Click on the link below for some great tutorials on how you can also succeed on the steem blockchain:

Master Toolkit: Steemit Resource Guide Illustrated by @sndbox

Also, a huge shoutout to @rigaronib for designing my logo!

Do you want to learn more about me? Click here to see a recent @wadepaterson interview with me - 20 questions with @gringalicious

My Current Stats: 63,471 Steem Power | 12,995 Followers | 29,250 Posts | Reputation 74.739