Chocolate Stuffed Brownies

My favorite holidays, predictably, are the ones that revolve around food.  The bigger the feast, the better the holiday.  Thanksgiving, obvious choice.  Passover.  Although I did not grow up with them, Christmas and Easter have grown on me, as they seem to require an adequate amount of food.

Valentine's Day is not a favorite.  My childhood memories of the day involve awkward parties where grown-ups pretend that children have romantic tendencies.  Maybe some do, but I wasn't scouting out my future wife in the second grade.  In sixth grade, a boy told me he wanted to give me a kiss and proceeded to present me with one of those giant Hershey's kisses.  Awkward.  Besides, I don't need a holiday to tell me to be romantic.  I'm romantic everyday.  I pack my wife's lunch in the morning.  I do her taxes.  I listen to her vent about graduate school.  I indulge her natural hair products projects, even when I find boiled oats in my shower.

Don't get me wrong.  I don't oppose the idea of a day dedicated to love.  I like love.  I love my wife, and I love my family, and I love my cat.  I don't love the pressure to spend money on useless things or eat really bad chocolate.  My wife would rather put the money in a retirement account, and I would rather make these brownies.

I thought about making a cliche Valentine's dessert.  It would involve pink things and hearts.  Red velvet seems to be a popular choice, and I have nothing against red velvet.  But when we're taking about romance, we really mean chocolate, don't we?  Not giant Hershey's kisses, not surprise chocolates with unknown fillings, but really good chocolate.  I don't see much of a point in eating anything else.

So where could you go wrong by stuffing chocolate into more chocolate?  You couldn't.  So I'm going to spread the love around and bring these into my office on Valentine's Day.  And my wife can bring some to her college students.  Because what's more romantic than sharing?

Besides saving for retirement, clearly.

Chocolate Stuffed Brownies
Makes 12-16

1 c flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 c butter
1/4 c chocolate chips
1 c brown sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
really good chocolate squares (like Ghirardelli, flavors of your choice)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 8x8 baking pan.

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together.  Melt butter and chocolate chips together, either in the microwave or on the stove top.  Stir until completely combined.  Add brown sugar to the chocolate mixture, and stir until the sugar has dissolved.

Whisk eggs and vanilla together.  Add the chocolate mixture, continuing to whisk until combined.  Add the wet ingredients into the dry, and stir until just combined.

Pour half the batter into the prepared pan.  Place chocolate squares on top of the batter, leaving a little space in between.  Make sure to scatter them if you are using different flavors so that each bite has different chocolates.

Cover the chocolates with the rest of the batter.  Spread with a spatula.

Bake for 20-22 minutes or until the brownies have set.  Cool completely before cutting into squares.