Cocoa-Walnut Brownie Loaf

We should just call it Brownie Loaf because I opted not to use any walnuts for reasons stated in the orange chicken with sweet potato post.

Yeah, pretty weird looking, but tastes good.

Walnut Brownie Loaf

3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups flour (unsifted)
1/2 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 (8 ounce) container plain yogurt (at room temperature)
1 cup walnuts (toasted and coarsely chopped)
Cocoa Fudge Frosting
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4-1/2 cup walnuts (toasted and coarsely chopped, for garnish)
Directions:


BROWNIE LOAF DIRECTIONS:.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees (glass) or 350 degrees (metal).

Cream butter, sugars and vanilla.

Add eggs one at a time, beating until mixture is light and fluffy.

Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture in thirds, alternating with yogurt.

Stir in chopped walnuts.

Pour into greased and floured 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pan. Bake at 325 degrees (glass) or at 350 degrees (metal) for 65-75 minutes, or until cake springs back when lightly touched ~ top may be cracked.

Cool in pan 10 minutes. Invert onto wire rack and cool completely. Frost with cocoa fudge frosting.

COCOA FUDGE FROSTING DIRECTIONS:.

Melt butter. Combine butter with cocoa, sugar, milk and vanilla; beat until smooth and creamy, adding additional powdered sugar if necessary for spreading consistency.

Frost cooled brownie loaf and garnish top with coarsely chopped walnuts.

NOTE: 2/3 cup milk can be substituted for the 8 ounce container of plain yogurt -- when using milk, omit baking soda. NOTE: If baking in glass loaf pan, reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.

If I want brownies, I'd rather have it in bar form rather than bread form. It's weird to slice off a piece of brownie from a loaf. That being said, I actually liked the brownie recipe. It was nice and moist and tender, probably because of the yogurt. It's definitely worth making again, but in a sheet pan. It also would have been nice if I had seen the note about baking it in a glass pan before now, but I didn't have any problems baking at 350 degrees. 

I found the recipe online so I didn't have to type it all in, and I noticed that the the reviewers especially liked the frosting. I didn't melt the butter, and I still thought the frosting was too runny. Taste-wise, it was just another chocolate frosting recipe.