Rich and fudgy dark chocolate orange brownies with orange juice and zest in the batter and fresh orange slices on top. These brownies are the perfect halloween recipe!
Orange Brownie Ingredients:
- Butter: Cubing the butter before melting it allows it to melt more quickly and evenly. As always, unsalted butter is highly recommended.
- Chocolate: Chopped chocolate will melt more easily than chocolate chips since it does not have the waxy coating, but chocolate chips will always work in a pinch.
- Cocoa Powder: I have tested this recipe with regular unsweetened cocoa powder. Read about the difference between dutch and regular cocoa in this post.
- Orange Juice: I squeeze the orange juice directly from oranges. This ensures that there are no unwanted sweeteners or flavor alterers added.
- Sugars: The granulated sugar gives these brownies stability and a shiny top while the brown sugar gives them a great chewiness.
- Eggs: Room temperature eggs prevent the possibility of scrambling or curdling because there is less of a temperature shock between the warm chocolate and the eggs.
- Flour: You only need a little bit of flour to make brownies, too much flour will result in a dry and caky brownie.
- Orange Slices: Orange slices bake perfectly into these brownies and gives them a subtle but delicious orange flavor.
How to make Fudgey Brownies:
While these chocolate orange brownies are easy to make, there are a few tricky areas so be sure to read the entire recipe before starting!
Start by lining your pan with two pieces of parchment, forming a sling of sorts. Then create a double boiler and heat your cubed butter, chocolate, cocoa powder, and orange juice over it. Stir constantly to avoid scorching and heat until the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth. Note: Be sure to use a heatproof bowl!
Then let cool until warm before adding in the sugars and mixing until the crystals are dispersed throughout (it may be a bit grainy). Then add in the eggs and whisk until no longer grainy. Note: room temperature eggs are key to avoid a scrambled or curdled mixture. Finally, add in the flour, salt, and orange zest and mix only until combined. Pour and smooth into your prepared pan.
Slice oranges into circles and then semi circles and coat in granulated sugar. Place on top of the brownies in a shape of your liking (I like a 3×3 grid). Bake for 45-50 until set in the middle and a toothpick comes out with moist specks (no raw batter). Let cool for thirty minutes at room temperature and then thirty minutes in the fridge. This ensures a super chewy but still set chocolate orange brownies. Slice and enjoy!
Tips for Perfect Brownies:
One of the biggest culprits when baking is oven temperature. While your oven reads one temperature, it could be decieving you by 25 or even 50 degrees. Buying an oven thermometer minimizes the risk of an improper oven and allows more consistent brownies.
Chocolate is very sensitive so melting directly in a saucepan would lead to it seizing and burning. To deal with sensitive chocolate, using a double boiler is key. A double boiler is created when you boil water in a saucepan and then stack a heatproof bowl on top of it, so the heat still melts the chocolate but it has a buffer of the water to do so gently.
Weigh your ingredients, weight is a much more accurate measurement to volume and will ensure all of your ratios are correct. Two people could consider how much sugar is packed differently, but weight will always be equal. Kitchen scales are super cheap and will be your new kitchen obsession.
Similar to my last point, brownies become tough and dry when too much flour is added or they are over-mixed before baking. In order to minimize risk #1, use a kitchen scale. In order to minimize risk #2, mix slowly and just until there are no flour patches remaining.
More Bar Recipes:
Print
Chocolate Orange Brownies
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 90 minutes
- Yield: 9 large brownies 1x
- Category: Bars and Brownies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Dessert
Description
Rich and fudgy dark chocolate orange brownies with orange juice and zest in the batter and fresh orange slices on top. These brownies are the perfect halloween recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 sticks butter (170g)
- 6 oz chocolate
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juiced
- 1/2 cup dutch cocoa (60g)
- 1 1/3 cup granulated sugar (260g)
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar (66g)
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 3/4 cup flour (100g)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Zest of 1 orange
Instructions
1) Preheat your oven to 350ºF, and grease and line a 8×8 pan with butter and parchment paper.
2) Boil water on the stove in a pot. Once boiling place a heatproof bowl over top of the pot and add in the butter, chocolate, orange juice, and cocoa powder. This forms a double boiler.
3) Stir the mixture continuously, with the heat still on, until the butter and chocolate have fully melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and let cool until warm (no longer hot).
4) Add in sugars and mix vigorously with a whisk (it will be grainy). Then, add in the egg and vanilla and mix until combined.
5) Finally add in flour, salt, and zest and stir until no dry patches remain. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth out with an offset spatula or spoon.
6) Slice oranges into 5 thin discs and then 10 halves (you will have one extra). Toss the now 9 crescent slices in sugar and place on top of the brownies.
7) Bake the brownies for 50-60 minutes until crackly on the top and only small amounts of batter remain on a toothpick when inserted.
8) Let fully cool at room temperature for 30 minutes and then in the fridge for another 30. Slice, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
These brownies are best served at room temperature for up to three days in an airtight container.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 large brownie
- Calories: 400
- Sugar: 45.2g
- Sodium: 147mg
- Fat: 23.2g
- Saturated Fat: 14.5g
- Carbohydrates: 57.3g
- Fiber: 2.5g
- Protein: 5.5g
- Cholesterol: 100mg
Keywords: brownies, oranges, citrus, chocolate
These brownies were delicious! I used blood oranges instead of naval. Cara cara would also be nice. The only reason you didn’t get five stars, you omitted salt in your list of ingredients. I did a guesstamit of 1/2 tsp, and they turned out fine.
It has been requested to be in the rotation of desserts…
★★★★
Thank you so much for the rave review! You would be correct with 1/2 tsp salt, I’ve added it to the ingredient list. Sorry for any confusion
Just the right amount of orange flavour alongside delicious chocolate fudgeyness! Absolutely perfect, will definitely be making again. The orange pieces on top make it. Thanks for an amazing recipe.
★★★★★
Hi, was wondering if it is okay to melt the butter and chocolate in microwave instead of a double boiler?
Yes, a microwave would definitely work. Just be sure to use a microwave safe bowl and melt in 10 second increments, stirring between each increment to prevent burning. Hope you enjoy 🙂