Fresh Cherry Chocolate Brownies

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Sweet cherries are in peak season and I couldn't resist picking up a big bag full of those beautiful dark red orbs on one of my last shopping trips. After snacking our way through them for a week, we still had quite a few left, so I decided to make a dessert to help use them up.

Cherry and chocolate is one of my favorite combinations, but most recipes I have (and that I could find online) call for dried cherries. Those obviously weren't going to work, so I decided to kind of wing it. I knew that brownies could be a little forgiving in terms of their moisture content, so went ahead and added fresh chopped cherries to my favorite brownie recipe. The results were delicious - very chocolaty, with just a hint of that sweet cherry flavor scattered throughout.

If you have a couple of handfuls of cherries hanging around in your fridge, I highly recommend giving them a try!

Fresh Cherry Chocolate Brownies
(Serves 12... or less, depending on how your degree of chocoholicness)

Ingredients:
1/2 c. granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. water
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
3 Tbsp. cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2/3 c. flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. chopped and pitted fresh cherries

Method:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease an 8x8 baking dish with oil or butter, or line with parchment paper.
In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, butter and water over high heat. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat and add 1 cup chocolate chips (saving 1/2 cup for later). Mix until chocolate is fully melted. Add cocoa powder, eggs and vanilla. Mix until smooth.
In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. Add to chocolate mixture. Mix until well combined.
Stir in chopped cherries and remaining 1/2 c. chocolate chips.
Spread into prepared baking dish. Bake at 325°F for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean.
Cool completely before cutting (if you can resist!).