Pumpkin Spice Kiss Chocolate Brownies

For the past few years, Hershey’s has been coming out with specialty kisses for certain seasons and holidays.  I’ve really enjoyed their Chocolate Mint Kisses at Christmas and their Strawberry Kisses at Valentine’s Day, and I’ve heard really good things about their Pumpkin Spice Kisses for fall.  Over the weekend I went to Target (which is the only place I’ve heard carries them) and picked up a bag.  I thought they were amazing!  They had the perfect amount of sweetness and a wonderful flavor.  I knew that I had to bake something with them, but I wasn’t sure what.  I thought about it all night, and then this morning I came up with the idea of swirling them into brownies.

I used my favorite brownie recipe, Dorie’s French Chocolate Brownies, as the brownie base.  I left out the raisins and added a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice.  After making the brownie batter and pouring it in the pan, I microwaved 45 Pumpkin Spice Kisses and marbled them in the batter.

The end result was amazing!  These are my favorite brownies because they are so soft and fudgy.  The kisses added the perfect amount of flavor so that they balanced each other out.  I love the pumpkin and chocolate combination!  I’m really glad I decided to add the pumpkin pie spice because it brought out the pumpkin flavor in the brownies.  I think this might be my favorite fall dessert!

Pumpkin Spice Kiss Chocolate Brownies

(adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, pages 92-93)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces, at room temperature
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
45 Hershey’s Pumpkin Pie Spice Kisses, unwrapped

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, butter the foil and place the pan on a baking sheet.

Whisk the flour, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon together.

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir occasionally until the chocolate melts. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the butter, stirring until it melts. It’s important that the chocolate and butter not get very hot. However, if the butter is not melting, you can put the bowl back over the still-hot water for a minute. If you’ve got a couple of little bits of unmelted butter, leave them-it’s better to have a few bits than to overheat the whole.

Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until thick and pale, about 2 minutes.  Reduce the mixer speed and pour in the chocolate-butter mixture, mixing only until it is incorporated-you’ll have a thick, creamy batter.  Add the dry ingredients and mix at low speed for about 30 seconds-the dry ingredients won’t be completely incorporated. Then finish folding in the dry ingredients by hand with a rubber spatula. Fold in the raisins, along with any liquid remaining in the pan. Scrape the batter into the pan.

Place the unwrapped kisses in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on HIGH for 1 minute.  Stir until smooth, and then drop by spoonfuls into the brownie batter.  Using a knife, swirl the batter to create a marbled effect.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top is dry and crackled and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to warm or room temperature.

Carefully lift the brownies out of the pan, using the foil edges as handles, and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 16 squares, each roughly 2 inches on a side, taking care not to cut through the foil.