Chocolate Espresso Brownies

As the not-really-needed-but-highly-appreciated antidote to brussel sprouts (I really do like the sprouts), I made a variation of the brown sugar brownies from the back of the C&H Brown Sugar bag. These brownies are fudgy and dark, and not for the cake-like brownie-loving crowd. I added a teaspoon of Medaglia D'Oro instant espresso coffee and lots of chocolate chips. These brownies are good as made directly from the recipe on the back of the bag, but much more decadent with a little espresso and extra chocolate thrown in. If you're really hard-core, they make a great "breakfast brownie." And if you don't know me well, you'll need to recognize that I am a founding member of the "hard-core breakfast brownie" club. Go eat some chocolate and have a great day.

Brown Sugar Espresso Brownies
(adapted from the C&H Pure Cane Sugar Dark Brown recipe from Domino Foods)

1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2 eggs
2 ounces (2 squares) unsweetened chocolate, melted, OR 2 tbsp shortening and 6 tbsp cocoa (I used Valrhona cocoa)
1 tsp instant espresso powder dissolved in 1 tsp hot water
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup(ish) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Grease 8x8x2-inch baking dish. In large bowl beat sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in chocolate (or shortening and cocoa), espresso, then flour. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into pan. Bake 25-30 minutes, depending on your altitude. Cool completely in pan and cut into bars (if you can wait that long.) Or, grab a spoon and dig in while the beauties are still warm. Dust with powdered sugar if you think it is necessary, which it isn't.