Mexican Brownies Recipe with Cinnamon and Cayenne - (2024)

FAQs

What are Mexican brownies made of? ›

Salt enhances the sweetness in your brownies. You might think that adding salt would make brownies, or any chocolate, salter, but it actually brings out the sweet quality in these types of desserts.

In this new flavor, we tripled up on chocolate for one ridiculously decadent scoop. Call it a classic, with a little cinnamon kick. Filled with ooey gooey chocolatey goodness, Mexican Chocolate Brownie features Mexican chocolate ice cream, OREO®* Cookie Pieces, and Mexican chocolate brownie batter swirls.

Fall Back on Butter

Most boxed brownies use canola or vegetable oil. Sub in the same amount of melted butter for brilliant results. This makes the brownies that much richer and more delicious. Bonus points if it's high-quality, like our Test Kitchen's favorite butter.

The cinnamon mostly used in Mexican cuisine is called Ceylon, or Canela in Spanish, and it is also known as true cinnamon. It is quite different from Cassia, which is mostly found in US stores.

Brownie textures fall into three general camps… Cakey, fudgy and chewy. Cakey brownies, like the name implies, are light, moist and airy, with a slightly fluffy, cake-like interior. Fudgy brownies are moist, dense and gooey, with almost the texture of fudge, but not quite as compact.

They give brownies a lighter, drier, and more cake-like texture. If you prefer this over the chewy variety, then go ahead and crack in that additional egg. On the other hand, too many eggs will yield brownies that are hard, heavy, and tough.

You could thin a little syrup or honey with water and brush it on the top of the brownies so that it soaks in a sweetens them a little. Try it on one first.

And according to Kitchn, that is the exact reason you'll want to use dark brown sugar for your brownies to ensure your next batch turns out ultra gooey. If you don't have any dark brown sugar on hand there is no need to panic or resign yourself to dry brownies.

Paletas. A popular Mexican dessert and street food that satisfies a craving for something refreshing on a hot day are the paletas. They come in many colors and flavors, made with fresh fruits, and sometimes enhanced with chocolate, pistachios, and other ingredients.

Why is Mexican chocolate different? ›

Mexican chocolate should taste intense and have a rustic texture. Its flavor is due to the fact that the cacao beans are simply roasted and ground into a liquor, whereas a lot of European-style chocolate takes things a step further, using a conching machine to aerate the chocolate liquor and mellow out its flavor.

Instead of adding in the recommended amount of water, substitute it for milk to give the batter a slightly different consistency. Milk is richer than water, so the brownies will be richer, and they'll be denser, like fudge.

Add a teaspoon of instant coffee or espresso powder. Throw in a handful of nuts—pecans, walnuts, macadamia, whatever you have on hand. Scoop in a palmful of dried or frozen fruit. Add an extra splash of the top-shelf vanilla extract, or a dab of vanilla paste, or a dash of vanilla powder, to the batter.

I liberally grease the pan with cultured salted butter, then when adding eggs short an egg white. For example, if the box calls for 2 eggs I add one whole egg and one egg yolk. This makes for dense, very fudgy brownies with great chew, which is what I prefer.

Mexican chocolate is made with cacao, sugar, and cinnamon. It boasts a grainier texture than other types of chocolate thanks to all of the extra added sugar. While cacao nibs, sugar, and cinnamon form the base of traditional Mexican chocolate, you may also see it made with almonds, vanilla, or even chiles.

Consider Mexican chocolate, the bolder and more bitter alternative to your average Hershey's or Ghirardelli offerings. It's made differently than European-style chocolate—and sometimes with more assertively-flavored ingredients.

The brownie was developed in the United States at the end of the 19th century and popularized there during the first half of the 20th century.