by Kelly J. Larson

Brownie enthusiasts come in two varieties — those who only bake or eat the kind made from scratch and those who prefer the convenience of a boxed mix. Last month I found a stash of hidden chocolate from our anniversary trip to Belgium two years ago. Could this high quality, delectable souvenir be good still? It was worth experimenting with to find out.I had been planning to try a new brownie recipe, but was missing a list of ingredients that I don’t normally buy, so with brownies-on-the-brain, I winged it — this was the sweet result. They’re lightyears beyond just good.

I mixed up a box of brownie batter and tossed two Belgian Côte d’Or hazelnut chocolate bars and added 1/2 cup toasted coconut. The brownies blew me away with an incredible European and tropical flavor mashup that had the signature shiny top that usually only comes from a brownie mix.Cue the heavenly chorus. From a late night, impromptu baking experiment win, I fell in l-o-v-e! I have wanted to recreate the brownies and since I regrettably have not been back to Belgium, I have another amazing chocolate substitution for the recipe that works like a dream, Ritter Sport chocolate from Germany that I can get at my local HEB.

Hazelnut Chocolate & Toasted Coconut Brownies

• 1 box (18.3 ounces) brownie mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetables oil
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1-1/2 packages chocolate hazelnut bars
• 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 450 F degrees for toasting the coconut.Toast the coconut in the over for five minutes, then cool while preparing the mix. Pour brownie mix, oil, water and eggs into bowl.Stir ingredients together with a spatula until mixed well. Open candy bar packages and place one and a half onto a cutting board.Add chopped candy bars and toasted coconut to brownie mixture. Stir together then transfer to a parchment lined brownie pan (nonstick 13.5-inch by 8-inch pictures here). It works fine to skip the parchment paper and add a nonstick cooking spray to the bottom of the pan instead.Lower the oven temperature to 350 F and bake for about 30 minutes. Ovens vary greatly and may need more or less baking time.Remove brownies from the oven. Allow brownies to cool slightly before removing from pan to cut into pieces. Makes 16 brownies, 220 calories each.Cutting tip: I slightly trim off the top and bottom ends of the pan of goodies to have a straight edge for cutting the brownies. I count the excess as the equivalent of one brownie (perfect for sampling), then cut the remaining slab into 15 pieces, five rows and three columns.