When frozen, these brownies become an extra-chewy, extra-delicious base for ice cream. I prefer vanilla ice cream, but you can use any flavor you like. These are easiest to make in a silicone mini muffin mold: bake the batter in the mold, fill with ice cream, and pop out when frozen. If you’re using regular mini muffin tins, run a thin-bladed offset spatula around the edges of each to release. Pink pepper brings a floral piquancy that cuts through the richness of chocolate and complements the aroma of cardamom. Urfa pepper heightens the chocolate flavor with its natural cocoa notes.
Finely grind the cardamom and pink pepper together and immediately mix with the Urfa and ground cinnamon.
For the Brownies
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Use 4 dozen mini muffin cups (preferably a silicone mold as you will be able to easily pop them out at the end).
Combine the butter and chocolate chips in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute and stir until smooth. If the chocolate and butter don’t melt completely, microwave for another 15 seconds and stir. Repeat, heating in 15-second intervals, until smooth. Let cool slightly.
Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and salt into a medium bowl and whisk in half of the spice blend. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl until foamy. While whisking the eggs, add the sugar in a steady stream and whisk until the sugar dissolves. Add the butter-chocolate mixture and stir rapidly with a silicone spatula until fully incorporated. Add the dry ingredients and fold gently with the spatula until no traces of flour remain.
Fill the muffin cups one-third of the way with batter and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a brownie comes out clean, about 15 minutes. The baked brownie bites should come only halfway up the sides of the muffin cups.
Cool the brownies completely in the silicone molds or tins. Fill each cup to the rim with slightly softened vanilla ice cream, smoothing the tops. (You’ll need about 1 pint of ice cream.) Freeze until firm. If you’d like, you can sprinkle the remaining spice blend on top before serving. Otherwise, reserve the leftover spice blend for another use. The ice cream brownie bites can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
