Warning:  This is a high calorie blog post today.  You might want to take a spin on your treadmill before reading…

One thing this blog will never be lacking is photos of bakeries.  My bliss is to walk into a bakery, especially one that is aesthetically pleasing.  My go-to spot when I am in Dallas is Bird Bakery. If you are ever in the Highland Park neighborhood, you must stop in for a delight for the eyes.

Bird bakes all the usual suspects – cupcakes, brownies, lemon bars, cookies and mini pies, merchandised beautifully on teared plates, cake pedestals and parchment lined trays.  They also have a delicious sandwich, soup and salad menu.

I usually order their Bird cupcake — a vanilla cake with vanilla frosting in the loveliest shade of robin’s egg blue.

Your cupcakes are packaged up in the cutest egg cartons.  Can you imagine receiving a gift of beautiful cupcakes presented in such a whimsical way?

My second favorite is their Mexican Hot Chocolate Brownie.

You can taste the subtle Mexican vanilla.  Dense and very chocolately. It really is like a cup of cocoa!

I am sharing a brownie recipe today that Mr. Bee’s sister-in-law shared with me years ago.  They are from a bakery in upstate New York.  She once told me that even if the snow was 10-feet tall, she would still put on her snow boots and make her way to the bakery for these brownies.  I make them as a special treat.  They are super rich calling for 6 cups of chocolate chips, so they are not for the faint of heart.  But boy, are they worth it.

Chocolate Chunk Brownies

Preheat oven to 325.  Butter a 9×13 pan.

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup water (I use coffee)

2 tsp. vanilla

3/4 cup of butter

4 eggs, beaten

5 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 cup chopped walnuts (I am not nutty, so I omit them)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Place sugar, water (or coffee), vanilla and butter in a saucepan.  Heat over medium heat to melt butter.  When melted, remove from heat and add chips and eggs (be sure to temper the eggs by adding a little of the warm chocolate liquid first to increase the temperature of the eggs before adding the entire pan of chocolate), stirring often until chips melt.

In a large mixing bowl, blend remaining ingredients — flour, baking powder, salt, nuts and the remaining cup of chocolate chips.  Add the melted chocolate mixture and stir until well combined.

Pour into pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool completely before cutting.  To get a clean cut for the brownies, chill first in the refrigerator.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

These are the perfect sweet to take to a potluck, your next girls night out, or when you are delivering a meal to an ailing friend.  Enjoy!