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Recipes

These Dubai Chocolate Brownies Are Beyond Decadent

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Many years ago, I worked in a t-shirt shop in Bar Harbor, Maine. Neighboring my store was a cafè that served the most decadent cream cheese brownies. For years, I tried to create a copycat recipe worthy of their fudgy, balanced, and moist brownies, and finally, I succeeded in creating one that was close.  I’ve taken that recipe and modernized it a bit, utilizing the creamy, nuanced flavors and textures of Dubai chocolate. I added pistachio, which not only highlights the pistachio cream in the chocolate bar but also adds additional texture and crunch. The cream cheese is blended with some matcha powder, which helps balance the sweetness of the brownie.  The brownies are then topped with crumbled Dubai chocolate, chopped pistachios, and flaky sea salt.  The result is a decadent confection, to say the least, but well worth the indulgence.

For those new to it, Dubai chocolate is renowned for its unique blend of chocolate, pistachio cream, and shredded phyllo dough, also known as kataifi.  The result of these combined ingredients is a rich, decadent, and creamy treat, which is why it is coveted by many.  In its own right, Dubai chocolate has garnered a lot of buzz on social media platforms like TikTok. In fact, a video featuring the Pistachio Kataifi Chocolate Bar, from a shop called ‘Fix Dessert Shop’ in Dubai, was what set Dubai chocolate on social media on fire. 

Either on its own or eaten with brownies, Dubai chocolate is a pleasure to experience, just like those cream cheese brownies in Bar Harbor, Maine. Mixed together, well, you just may have confection perfection. 

Dubai Chocolate Matcha Brownies
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Dubai Chocolate Matcha Brownies

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 30 minutesCook time: 30 minutesTotal time:1 hour Servings:16 servings

Brownie Batter:

    • Cream Cheese Batter:

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray a 9” x 13” pan with cooking spray. Line the pan with parchment paper, and spray the parchment. Make sure some parchment hangs over the sides of the pan so the brownies can be lifted out when they are cool.
  2. Place two inches of water in a medium saucepan and place a heatproof bowl on top. Place the 2 1/2 cups of the chocolate chips and butter inside the bowl and stir occasionally until melted. Allow the mixture to cool. Scramble the eggs in a separate dish. Once the chocolate mixture has cooled, add the eggs and mix until well combined.
  3. Remove the bowl from the pan and add the vanilla and sugar. Mix until the ingredients are combined.
  4. In a separate bowl, add the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. In three separate additions, add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture, and stir until just combined. Add the remaining 1 cup of chocolate chips to the batter.
  5. Pour half the chocolate batter into the baking pan, and top it with all of the cream cheese batter. Add the remaining chocolate batter in dollops with a spoon so that the remaining batter is spread evenly over the top, partially covering the cream cheese.
  6. Using a paring knife, swirl the cream cheese batter into the chocolate batter in two or three passes across the batter. Too many swirls will make the batter look muddy.
  7. Bake for 30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean, and let the brownies cool in the pan on a rack until they are thoroughly cooled. Once cooled, cut the brownies into 16 squares.

Notes

  • Any flavor of Dubai chocolate can be used in this recipe, but make sure the combinations of flavors works well with the matcha. If I doesn’t, leave out the matcha powder from the cream cheese batter. In addition, feel free to sprinkle the top of the brownies with as much or as little of the Dubai chocolate package that you would like.
Keywords:Baked Goods, Baking, Chocolate, Chocolate Chips, Dessert, Matcha
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Stefanie Trepper
Stefanie Trepper is a freelance contributor to Spoon University in New York City, where she is a recipe tester and developer.

As a culinary student, she focused on developing nutritious, budget-friendly, and adaptable recipes to accommodate various diets and food allergies. She is committed to sourcing healthy, local, and seasonal foods and is a contributor and volunteer at her local organic cooperative community garden. Stefanie studied in Provence, France, where she learned about sustainable farming and cooking practices. During her study in France, Stefanie developed relationships with local farmers and purveyors and utilized seasonal, locally sourced foods. Concurrently, she worked in a restaurant, which earned a green Michelin star for sustainability under a two Michelin-starred chef. Stefanie has previously worked as both an educator and an administrator and used food and cooking to bridge cultural connections. A graduate of Colby College, she is passionate about environmental studies and earned a B.A. in Art History. She also holds a Master's Degree from The Bank Street College of Education and an advanced leadership certificate from Harvard University.

In her free time, Stefanie enjoys traveling, learning the Italian language, entertaining friends for dinner dates, and spending time with her husband and two children. She also enjoys listening to her favorite true crime podcasts and playing with her two rescued cats. Stefanie is a horror movie buff and considers Halloween (1978) one of the best horror movies of all time. A lover of New York City, Stefanie loves exploring new neighborhoods, perusing ethnic markets, and finding new dishes and cuisines to replicate at home.