Salted Chocolate Pistachio Brownies

When it comes to a crowd pleasing party dessert it is hard to beat brownies. They have all the necessary characteristics such as easy to prepare, transportable, and able to consume without silverware. Not the mention the fact that are made with CHOCOLATE. I for one have a hard time trusting people who say they don't like chocolate, but that's for another time. 

While brownies can get saturated on the potluck gathering scene, they are incredibly easy to modify and turn into something more. So the next time you want to make sure your brownies get picked over all the other desserts in the crowd, give this recipe a try. They are like wearing a glittering black dress over a plain one - classy but memorable. 

To accommodate my mom and sister I used to a gluten-free brownie box as my base, but you could use any box or your favorite recipe. My regular flour choice of the boxed variety is Ghiradelli double chocolate, always amazing especially for the price. 

And now for the pistachio topping, the glitter on the black dress if you will. I used a generous handful of pistachios, shelled and then finely chopped. If you aren't super skilled with a knife, just chop them as small as you can without risking the tips of your fingers (you could even leave them whole). Once the batter has been poured into the dish, place pistachios evenly on top. For the final touch, add a sprinkle of sea salt on top of the nuts. 

One mistake commonly made in any kind of brownie is over-baking them. Everybody just needs to calm down on their baking times and stop being afraid of anything that isn't "golden brown" when you take it out of the oven. I would suggest cutting the recommended baking time by about 5 min and then checking the brownies with a toothpick: if they are firm on top with some batter on the toothpick, they are done. If the toothpick comes out with a runny liquid or if the top is not solid then put them back in the oven for the extra 5 min. Also, as with almost all desserts, make sure your pan is in the center of the oven for the most even bake.    

The result is a salty-sweet chocolate delight that will be sure to get a second glances and satisfied taste buds. All those all other brownies have no idea what they are up against.