Sasha's Kitchen: Passover Chocolate Orange Brownies

Here's a delicious Passover dessert recipe that I wanted to share with all of you folks who are struggling to keep Passover and can't do your usual baking this week. I am always quite critical of Passover baked goods, but this recipe actually turned out really good and wasn't too heavy, which is the flaw with most Passover baking experiments. I was really pleased with how these turned out and will certainly make them again next year. The orange zest added a bit of lovely orange flavor which is perfect in combination with the chocolate. Stay tuned for an upcoming roast recipe made with some of my favorite products that I got at ShopRite for the holiday as part of my participation in the Potluck blog panel.

Sasha's Passover Chocolate Orange Brownies
6 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped (you can weigh it out on a baker's scale if you have one, or just estimate)
1/3 cup canola oil (or 1 stick melted butter or margarine - I used canola oil which is what I recommend)
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/8 tsp salt
zest of half of a large orange, freshly grated
3/4 cup finely ground matzo meal (or matzo cake meal)

Here's a bit of a money saving trick - you don't need to get all fancy and buy matzo cake meal specially to bake this recipe, as you can just put regular matzo meal in the food processor. Alternatively, you can buy finely ground matzo meal like I did, which works perfectly for both these brownies and for my signature matzo ball soup.

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a 9 inch square brownie pan, or line with wax paper. Melt the chocolate and canola oil/ margarine/butter in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (you can also use a double boiler if you have one), stirring until smooth. Remove from hear and whisk to combine in full. Beat the eggs, sugar and salt in a stand mixer or handheld mixer at high speed until pale and thick, Beat in the chocolate on low speed. Stir in the matzo meal until blended, and mix in the orange zest.

Spread the batter in your prepared baking pan and bake until firm and a toothpick comes out clean, about 3 minutes. Allow to cool and slice. If you used wax paper (rather than Pam, you can just invert the brownies into a platter and slice).