Chocolate Cherry Brownies

No clear verdict on the cookies from last week. I've decided I'm not keen on them; the treacle in my opinion just overpowers everything else. Duncan, on the other hand, thinks they're really good. If I do make them again, I'll definitely reduce the amount of treacle used.

I got this recipe from the SparkPeople website. It's an American website, so the recipe is in cups. I think I'm getting used to working in them now. The basic recipe is just for plain chocolate brownies, with nothing in them. Naturally I couldn't leave it like that, so after a bit of thought I decided that the bag of dried cherries I had in the cupboard would be a good addition.
The recipe says that the batter will be a bit thick. It's not kidding. I'm used to a brownie batter you can pour out of the bowl; this one you have to dollop spoonfuls of into the pan, and then attempt to spread them out to a single even layer.
Just like there's an absolute commandment for muffins (do NOT overmix), there's one for brownies. What is it? Do NOT overbake. What did I do with these? Overbake. Not by much, according to the timing given in the recipe, but enough so that the brownies were drier than I'd have ideally liked. I'll know better next time. I also didn't use the full quantity of cherries, but I think I should have.

Recipe:
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons instant coffee, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup plain flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
50 grams dried cherries, chopped if large

Preheat oven to 325F/160C. Line an 8 inch square baking pan with non-stick baking parchment.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until thick and creamy.
Add the dissolved coffee, melted butter and vanilla to the egg mixture. Whisk gently until combined.
In another bowl, mix the flour, cocoa and salt.
Gradually add the dry ingredients and cherries to the egg mixture. The batter will be very thick.
Spread the batter in the prepared pan. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes.
Cool in the pan. cuts into 16 pieces.