Adding bourbon to chocolate creates one of my very favorite flavor profiles. I combine my whiskey with chocolate quite often in the kitchen, as you can tell from my recipes for bourbon balls, double chocolate cookies, and chocolate chip brownies. I find that the addition of bourbon to chocolate recipes works best one of two ways -- either go for a slightly bitter, high rye mash bill like Old Forester, or a sweeter, wheated bourbon like Maker's Mark. 

I wanted to create a brownie recipe that relies on the contrast between the rich sweetness and an intense salty note. I took Alton Brown's basic recipe for cocoa powder brownies and added Maker's Mark for a touch of sweetness and a dusting of Himalayan pink sea salt for contrast. The result was pretty delicious.

Cocoa Brownies with Maker's Mark and Himalayan Pink Sea Salt, adapted from Alton Brown's Cocoa Brownies Recipe.

Ingredients:

• Soft butter, for greasing the pan
• Flour, for dusting the buttered pan
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar, sifted
• 1 cup brown sugar, sifted
• 8 ounces melted butter
• 1 1/4 cups cocoa, sifted
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons Maker's Mark
• 1/2 cup flour, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• Himalayan pink sea salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8-inch square pan.

In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs at medium speed until fluffy and light yellow. Add both sugars. Add remaining ingredients, and mix to combine.

Pour the batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square pan and bake for 45 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of the pan should come out clean. Add a light sprinkling of coarsely cracked Himalayan pink sea salt and remove to a rack to cool.