Dark Chocolate Brownies with Lemon Chevre

I have a confession to make. I have an embarrassing obsession with the Food Network. The first thing I do when I turn on my TV is switch it to the Food Network. Every. Single. Time. I love it.

There. Confession Complete.

The good thing about this obsession is all the inspiration I get for new flavour combinations in my recipes. One such combination is Goat Cheese and Chocolate. This inspiration came from an Episode of Bobby Flay's: Throwdown . For those of you who are not familiar with this show, the very talented Bobby Flay challenges local chefs and home cooks in a cookoff with their signature dish. The episode in particular that inspired me was his throwdown with the Vermont Brownie Company  and their famous Dark Chocolate and Chevre Brownies. I have never had one of these brownies but my god, did they ever look delish! So I set out to make a version on my own and also added some extra flavours and punch!

Just a small disclaimer...you kinda have to love goat cheese in order to enjoy these. The tangyness of the cheese is very apparent and the lemon enhances it even more....which for me...was devine!

And one more note. I used ALL organic ingredients for this recipe...I think it actually came out a lot nicer than when I use regular store bought stuff...just sayin.

Its best to have 2 bowls on hand...one for the Cheese Mixture and one for the Chocolate Mixture. I didn't bother using my stand mixer for this...it came together pretty quickly stirring by hand.

First make sure that your Chevre is at room temperature. It will be much easier to spread in the pan and combine the other ingredients into it. A good quality organic Chevre also makes a huge difference.

Take about 6 ounces of chevre (I used 10...it was wayyyyy too much), 1 Extra Large Egg (double yolks again!), 1 Tbsp Sugar, the juice and zest of 1/2 a lemon  and 1 Tbsp Flour. Mix well until combined.

Set this aside.

In your second bowl combine: 1 Cup good quality cocoa powder, 2/3 cup extra fine white sugar, 2/3 cup packed brown sugar

  1 Cup All Purpose Flour, 3/4 tsp sea salt

 And your chocolate!! Please use a good quality chocolate here...it really makes a world of a difference!

 Coarsely chop up your chocolate. I used about 1 bar and a half (1 cup chopped in total)

 Add the chopped chocolate to the dry ingredients

 also add Extra large eggs, 1/2 cup canola oil and 2 tbsp water. Whisk to combine.

 Extra chocolaty!

 In a foil lined 8x8 baking pan, pour half of your chocolate mixture on the bottom and spread evenly.

 Spread all of the Chevre mixture on top.

 and top it off with the remaining chocolate mixture.

 Pop this in a 350F oven for 30 minutes. When 30 minutes is up turn off your oven and leave the brownie pan in the oven for an additional 10-15 minutes for it to set (do not open the oven...you want to keep the heat in).

 Remove the brownies from the oven and let cool completely. Once cooled you can slice into squares and refrigerate. That didn't happen for me...we ate them all right away!

You'll be thanking me later for this recipe!