Bourbon Brownies

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Another great one from the San Jose Mercury News. I made these for Bob's 50th birthday. It makes enough to feed 12 people, with some left over. Delicious. Don't overcook them! It's easy to think they need another five minutes, but then the edges are overcooked.

• 1/2 cup salted butter
• 12 oz semi sweet chocolate
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup bourbon - While some miscreants might recommend something like Knob Creek, I am a Maker's Mark Ambassador and highly recommend it for its smooth and delightful taste. ;-)
• 2 tbsp instant coffee - they recommend espresso powder, but I couldn't find it so I used an 3 tbsp of Taster's Choice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup prunes (that's right), chopped coarsely and tossed with 1 tbsp flour - don't over chop them or they will clump together

Heat the oven to 375. Grease a 9x12 inch brownie pan. 

Chop the chocolate into pea size pieces. In a saucepan with a heavy bottom, melt the butter over a low flame.  Remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Stir until it melts. If you have to, put the pot back on the heat for a little warm up but be very careful, it's easy to burn the chocolate at this point.  When the chocolate is melted, remove from the heat and let it cool.

Beat the eggs, then add sugar and beat until it is light yellow. Mix the instant coffee with one tablespoon of water and mix it until it all dissolves. Add the bourbon, coffee, and salt. Beat the batter until it is all one color. Mix it well.

Dump in the chocolate and mix well. Add the flour and mix it in; don't beat it too much. Stir in the prunes.

Spread it in the pan and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean. Note that the prunes keep this moist, so if you decide to bake another 5 minutes, stop there. If you over cook these they come out crumbly and not as good.

Remove from oven and let completely cool - 2 to 3 hours before removing them from the pan.

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