Fresh cranberry pecan brownies are rich, tart and not very sweet decadent brownies with lots of pecans. It is a great snack for anytime of the day and also a dessert with some ice-cream.

What is Elevenses?

Theme for this week is Elevenses. Elevenses is an English tradition where tea or light snack is served around eleven am. It is a second breakfast or a light snack served midday and is also a light meal that keeps one going until lunch time. Consider it a short, late morning break for refreshments.

What is served for Elevenses?

The food and time of Elevenses varies from country to country. In Britain, it is a light snack; cookies, brownies, scones, biscuits and sandwiches served with some tea. In India there is no elevenses concept but some people do have a second cup of tea, coffee or a refreshing drink around 10 or 11 am.

Cranberry Pecan Brownie

The first elevenses recipe is fresh cranberry pecan brownies. Ever since I baked fresh cranberry Christmas cake, fresh cranberry brownies were on my to bake list. Source of this brownie recipe and the cranberry cake are the same.

Cranberry pecan brownies are made with fresh or frozen cranberries and I used the latter. According to the recipe, frozen berries work well for this recipe, however, it was a bit of challenge mixing in frozen berries. Frozen cranberries came together and formed a lump once added to the batter. Hence, either thaw the cranberries or use fresh cranberries instead. Fresh cranberries are still available in stores and highly recommend those or fully thawed cranberries.

Fresh Cranberry Pecan Brownies Recipe

📖 Recipe

Fresh Cranberry Pecan Brownies

Fresh cranberry pecan brownies are rich, gooey, tart and not too sweet brownies.

4.50 from 6 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Elevenses, Snack, Teatime Snack

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10

Bake Time: 30

Total Time: 40

Servings: pieces

Calories: 165kcal

Ingredients

¼ cup Unsalted Butter
1 cup Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
½ cup Light Brown Sugar
1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract or Almond Extract
2 Eggs
½ cup All Purpose Flour
¼ teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 cup Fresh or Frozen Cranberries
½ cup Pecans chopped

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325 F.
Grease a 9x9 baking pan with butter or line with a parchment paper. I used 8x8 greased Pyrex dish.
Melt butter in a saucepan on medium high flame.
Add chocolate chips and stir until melted. If required, reduce the flame.
Remove from heat, add sugar, vanilla extract and stir until smooth. I was out of vanilla extract and used almond extract.
Add eggs and whisk immediately until well incorporated.
Stir in flour and salt until combined.
Stir in cranberries and pecans.
Pour the batter into a greased pan, spread the batter evenly and bake in a preheated oven for 28-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the brownie comes out with moist crumbs. I baked on a middle rack for 33 minutes in my oven.
Let the pan cool for few minutes, cut the brownie into 16 pieces and let cool completely in the pan.
Store in an airtight container for days or wrap them airtight and freeze for upto 3 months. Thaw the brownies at room temperature and enjoy.

Notes

Recipe says frozen cranberries work well in the recipe and do not require thawing. However, it was a challenge stirring in the cranberries. I thawed cranberries for 10-15 minutes while I did the prep work and the moment I added the berries, batter came together to form a lump. It was quite a task to evenly stir in the berries. I recommend either thawing the berries a bit longer or use fresh cranberries.
Almond extract is a great substitute for vanilla in this recipe. I was out of vanilla and used almond instead.
Chopped almonds would be a nice variation to pecans along with almond extract.
Though brownies have decent amount of pecans, i would not mind a few more!
Nutrition - Values listed are approximate values.