Brownies with White Chocolate Chips, Pistachios & Cranberries

Hooray! We have a winner from our First Annual Holiday Cookie Connection Giveaway drawing! As part of our contest, we asked participants to give us three ingredients that would make up their dream cookies. Then, Courts and I would make up a brand new recipe out of those ingredients for the winner of our blind drawing!

We had some very interesting combinations that were a departure from your normal cookies ingredients. This was one of them! Drum roll … Van My’s dream cookies had white chocolate, pistachios, and cranberries, so we decided to make these yummy brownies with all of those goodies plus a white chocolate frosting! 

No one really knows the origin of brownies, but every family seems to have a favorite recipe handed down from generation to generation. We had one on our family, too, but my mom, decidedly the chocolate champion in our family, felt ours didn’t have nearly enough chocolate. So, off she went in search of the perfect chocolate, perfectly rich, perfectly decadent brownies. When she came up short, she began concocting with different ingredients and discovered that by adding extra cocoa powder to fine-quality bittersweet chocolate, she had finally landed the perfect chocolate combination. 

These brownies use that basic brownie recipe, but with the addition of white chocolate chips, pistachios and dried cranberries. The white chocolate frosting was an after thought, but one we felt made the brownies look more festive for the holidays … and it was delicious too!

Brownies with White Chocolate Chips, Pistachios, and Cranberries

Dark chocolate brownies with pistachios, which chocolate chips and dried cranberries, all topped with a white chocolate frosting.
Servings 16 squares
Prep Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

Brownies

  • 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate
  • 2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter (4 oz. or 1 stick)
  • 1/8 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup unbleached flour
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pistachios (roasted and unsalted)
  • 1/2 cup white chocolate chips (best if you can find actual white chocolate and not white baking chips)
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries (pour 1 cup boiling water over for 15 minutes to plump up, then squeeze out excess liquid)

Frosting

  • 2 oz. unsalted butter, at room temp (4 tbsp. or 1/2 stick)
  • 4 oz. white chocolate chips (melted and cooled)
  • 1 cup confectioners powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp. milk +/-

Toppings

  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped roasted, unsalted pistachios

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350⁰ F. Grease or spray an 8-inch baking pan. Set aside
  • Put dried cranberries for brownies in a bowl and pour 1 cup boiling water over them. Let them sit for about 15 minutes to plump up and then squeeze excess liquid from cranberries. Set aside.
  • Melt bittersweet chocolate, cocoa powder, and butter medium-sized pot over low heat on the stovetop and stir until well blended. Remove from heat. Add salt and sugar and stir until both are dissolved into the chocolate-butter mixture. Add two eggs, one at a top, mixing thoroughly after each. Stir in flour and vanilla and mix well. Fold in chopped pistachios, white chocolate chips, and cranberries.
  • Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake in a 350-degree oven for 18 minutes. (If you use a glass baking pan, reduce heat to 325⁰ and bake slightly longer.) Test with a cake tester and if brownies still seem too wet, bake for one minute longer. If they seem just right, turn off the oven and leave them in the oven for another minute. The brownies should be just slightly wet in the center when they are done baking.
  • Remove from oven and cool completely on rack.
  • Once completely cooled, spread frosting (recipe below) over the entire pan of brownies. Sprinkle dried cranberries and finely chopped pistachios evenly over frosting.
    Treks IMG 5611

Frosting Directions

  • In a medium-sized bowl, cream together melted, cooled white chocolate and butter until fluffy. Beat in powdered sugar until integrated. It will be a bit lumpy at this point. Add vanilla and milk and beat well. You may need a little more or less milk, to get to the desired spreading consistency. Spread over cooled brownies.
Course: Dessert
Keyword: brownies, pistachio brownies

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