Chocolate Cherry Fudge Bars with Cherry Ganache

Every once in a while you just get this insatiable craving for chocolate that only something like a brownie can satisfy, and then you realize you have cherries in the fridge that need to be used soon - and who the hell doesn't like chocolate covered cherries? - so you just have to make chocolate cherry brownies to be happy.

At least, I hope there are more people who suffer from this once-every-few-months problem.  It probably speaks volumes about the fact that I need to do a Whole30 or 21DSD.  Oh well.  I made double chocolate cherry fudge bars with a cherry ganache, and they are amazeballs.  That's the only possible way to describe these brownie/bars.  Oh wait.  "Bomb" is another satisfactory, hip descriptor.  Or we can get old school and call these "decadent".  "Mind blowing".  "Bliss".  I don't know.  Pick one of those and be happy.

These are really, really, really, really moist, and as a result they hardly stay together.  I would normally see that as a fault and be back to the drawing board, but these were just way too good not to share.  They're really quite amazing on their own.  You don't need the ganache, but that's just bonus chocolate amazingness as far as I'm concerned.  I dare you to make these and not have a foodgasm.  And, if you eat them cold, they're like fudge.  Brownies that double as fudge.  What more could you ask for?  This is brownie bliss.  Chocoholic heaven.  Glorious nirvana.

I'm certainly building up the expectation of how fantastic these bars are.  Perhaps that's a sign I should just give you the recipe before I go too far!

Double Chocolate Cherry Brownies with Cherry Ganache

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 40 minutes

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Ingredients

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Brownies

• ½ c ghee, melted
• ½ c coconut oil, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ½ c coconut sugar
• ¾ c cacao
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ c almond flour
• ¼ c Enjoy Life chocolate chips
• ½ c chopped fresh cherries

Ganache

• ¼ c coconut creme/milk
• 2 Tb cacao
• 2 Tb coconut oil
• 1 tsp honey
• ½ c cherries
• ¼ c Enjoy Life chocolate chips

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 8X8 baking pan by lining with parchment paper or oiling well.
2. In a large bowl, combine wet brownie ingredients (ghee through vanilla) and whisk until completely mixed.
3. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients except cherries and chocolate chips. Then add to the wet ingredients and mix until just incorporated.
4. Stir in chocolate chips and cherries.
5. Pour into prepared baking pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out relatively clean.
6. While the brownies are baking, prepare the ganache. Put all ingredients but chocolate chips into a blender and blend (alternatively, if you want a "chunky" ganache with cherry chunks, just stir everything together with a spoon.
7. Pour this mixture and chocolate chips into a small saucepan and heat until sauce begins to bubble.
8. Stir frequently for 5-10 minutes until this mixture starts to thicken and turn glossy. Remove from heat.
9. Once brownies have cooled, spread ganache on top.

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Notes

These are extremely rich and moist. If you want a less moist brownie, you can try reducing the amount of coconut oil/ghee or upping the amount of almond flour - but I cannot guarantee good results since I haven't tried to myself.

These are VERY good after being left in the fridge overnight - they harden a bit because of the coconut oil, and the consistency is closer to fudge. Yes, you read that right. Needless to say it's delicious either way.

If you try the recipe, please let me know!  I'd love to know what you think!