Raspberry swirl brownies

Guys, I might be sick. If there's a rare disease that involves compulsively eating foods of a certain color, I've got it. No kidding. Let's make a list of the things I've been compulsively eating lately. Strawberries (maybe too many of them), dried cranberries, raspberries and cherry tomatoes. What do you know, they are all red!

Wait! now that I think about it... my glasses, purse, wallet and converse are red. Maybe I'm just obsessed with red. I'm sort of a red smurf. Oh man! I just remembered I have a ski suit, full suit, all red. We went skiing with college classmates and one of my friends gave me the nickname of the red smurf (I'm short you know). 

Anywaaaaay... let's go back to the food!  Including those red things, there's this amazing red raspberry jam I bought for the Krapfen and I wanted to bake into something else. A couple weeks ago I wanted to bake something quick for some friends. Sandwich cookies seemed like too much work, so I went for these amazingly easy and tasty brownies. 

They are mixed and baked in 45 min flat. And they are what I call 'one bowl recipes'. No mess, no fuss and lots of deliciousness using only a bowl, a whisk and a spatula. 

The brownie base is not overly sweet and the red raspberry jam has a hint of tartness which goes perfect with it. Plus they are gooey and cakey at the same time. Mine came out pretty tall, but I don't really think that was a problem for anyone. 

If you can't find raspberry jam, you can substitute for unsweetened strawberry jam. I'd suggest nothing overly sweet, you want to have a contrast of flavors between the chocolate and the jam. Oh jeez, I almost forgot! I stirred in some walnuts for a crunch. You can omit them but I find they add an extra layer of texture and crunch to the mix. 

All in all, these brownies were a success. My friend kept saying... 'Adri these are supergood!', while licking her fingers and grabbing another piece. So just go and make them. We'll discuss red later.

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Raspberry swirl brownies
Adapted from here

Printable recipe

4 oz bittersweet chocolate coarsely chopped
1 stick of butter
1/3 cup red raspberry preserves
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch of salt
¾ cup flour
¾ cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F

Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler or microwave. In a bowl, beat eggs until foamy, add sugar and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Stir in the melted chocolate and butter (make sure it's not very warm). Incorporate the flour into the mixture by mixing with a spatula. Stir in the walnuts and fold them in the batter. Pour the batter in a greased 8 x8 inch pan. Add tablespoons of jam on top of the mixture and swirl using a knife. Bake for 30 min or until a toothpick inserted comes with wet crumbs (not totally clean).