A tablespoon of instant coffee gives brownies an extra kick. | Photo courtesy of Bethany Linnenkohl

Time has flown by this semester. Take a moment, stop and breathe. When the majority of us lack sleep as we need to stay up to finish papers or study for midterms, what’s better than chocolate, coffee and most importantly God to get us through the night? To begin, Matthew 11:28-29 says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Cooking for me is definitely a love and a passion, and it is therapeutic as well as it releases the stress of the day and allows me to unwind. This week’s recipe only takes an hour or so and the rich reward is worth every minute spent.

Espresso brownies

Ingredients:

-1 cup butter
-2 cups granulated sugar
-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
-4 large eggs
-3/4 cup cocoa powder
-1 tablespoon instant coffee
-1 3/4 cup flour
-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1 cup chocolate chips

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pan with baking cups or grease a cake pan.
Place butter in large glass bowl. Microwave for one minute or until melted. Stir in sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, beat well. Add cocoa powder and instant coffee; beat until well blended. Add flour, baking powder and salt and mix until the batter is slightly runny. Stir in the cup of chocolate chips. Divide batter evenly into muffin cups or into the greased cake pan.

For the muffin pan, bake for 25 minutes and if using a cake pan, bake for about 30 minutes. I made mini-muffins this time and they probably took about 15 minutes to bake. Regardless of the pan being used, the brownies are done when the surface is firm. Remove brownies from the oven. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Makes about 18 espresso brownie cups.