Swiss Milk Chocolate Brownies

We can’t metaphorically go to Switzerland in our kitchens without talking about chocolate so let’s do it with these Swiss Milk Chocolate Brownies. They make it real, they make it right. The good, milky perfect kind. (gah, so do those Peruvians, not the milky kind, but you know).

Our second stop in Western Switzerland’s charming lake town, Zurich was a more pleasant experience than our less than fun time in eastern Geneva.  The weather was better, the sky brighter, the food better.

We arrived in town on what just happened to be the eve that Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince was being released worldwide.  Despite the fact that Tomato and I had our copies pre-ordered and shipping from Amazon Stateside, we couldn’t fathom having to wait another month plus to find out about Harry’s adventures as a sixth year.  Whilst chatting up our hostel host, our conversation went something like this:

Me: Do you happen to know of any bookstores in town that sell books in English?

Him:  No, sorry. Most sell books only in German.

Me: Oh. That’s a shame. You know the next Harry Potter book comes out tonight…

Him: Oh! Yes, the bookstore is having a 1 AM release. Let me show you where it is.

So at 12 AM London-time, Tomato and I trekked to the bookstore with all the other eager adults to pick up our copies of The Half Blood Prince. And yes, now we each have two copies.

Needing to read the book as soon and as fast as possible, we each hunkered down in our rooms, lucky for us that it was Sunday, God’s day, and therefore anything else we had planned to do was closed.  Andouille and I did sneak out for some fondue, but otherwise we just relaxed in our beds and enjoyed the pretty views.

It was also this trip in Switzerland that we learned that the cheapest, ugliest gas-station variety chocolate in Zurich is better than the most expensive find back home. So, for 50CHF, we filled our bags before heading to Vienna.

Today’s recipe is a brownie, using some of those amazingly creamy milk chocolate truffles from Lindt.  Mom uses the dark chocolate truffles for making what she calls her kick-ass chocolate cake, and as such it was necessary to make some kick-ass-chocolate brownies. I confess I used to be #TeamMilkChocolate but have since switched over to the dark side. Perhaps this is a reminder to revisit my milky ways once in a while.

When these came out of the oven, lighter in color than most brownies I’ve seen, it dawned on me that I’ve never made a milk chocolate brownie! Semi-sweet or dark only, so this was a welcome, lighter (in feel, not in calorie) for these lighter summer months.

Written after Bones.

Swiss Milk Chocolate Brownies

June 24, 2016

Servings: 8

Prep: 15 min

Cook: 45 min

Total: 1 hr

Difficulty: Easy

Print This

Swiss milk chocolate brownies are my nod to Switzerland- using authentic Swiss Lindor truffles to give these brownies a quality just not found stateside.

By: Chrissy

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup plus 2 TB unsalted butter
• 6 ounces milk chocolate truffles (about 13 Lindor)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup plus 2 TB sugar
• 3/4 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp instant coffee granules
• 1 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts (optional)

Directions

• Step 1 Preheat the oven to 350F. Line an 8x 8pan with parchment paper, and then butter and sugar the pan.
• Step 2 In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the butter and chocolate and stir constantly until melted. Remove from the heat and add the sugar, coffee, salt and extracts, and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined.
• Step 3 Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Slowly mix in flour until smooth and all combined. Add the nuts if you’re doing that.
• Step 4 Bake for 30-35 minutes until a thin knife comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove and let finish cooling on a cooling rack.