In honour of it being National Chocolate Week this week I baked brownies! This recipe is one of my favourites, a hybrid blondie/brownie mixture that I've adapted from several recipes over time according to my own tastes.
The beauty of this recipe is that once you've made the basic mixture you can add any kind of chocolate or nuts to it depending on what you like! My preferred combo is white chocolate chips, caramel nibbles (or Lindt balls) topped with dark chocolate ganache and malteasers. For this I used dairy milk snow bites to create a kind of checkerboard effect!
Recipe
225g of Plain Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Power
1/2 Teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda
A Pinch of Salt
150g of Soft Butter
150g Light Brown Sugar
100g Unrefined Sugar
1 Teapoon of Vanilla Extract
2 Eggs
100g of White Chocolate Chips
A Bag of your favourite Chocolate Caramels (e.g. rolos)
OR Chopped Nuts (e.g. pecans)
Malteasers for Decorating
A 19cm x 26cm Baking Pan, greased & lined with baking parchment.
Chocolate Ganache:
150g Good Quality Dark Chocolate, broken into pieces
150ml Double Cream
1 Tablespoon of Light Brown Sugar
A pinch of salt
Makes 12 large brownies or 16 smaller ones (depending on your appetite!)
Method
Preheat Oven to 170 C (325 F)
Sift together flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda & salt. Cream together the butter & sugars in a separate bowl until pale. *Tip: to begin with use a tea towel drapped over the bowl if you're using an electric whisk to stop it flying everywhere!*.
Gradually add the eggs, beating well, and vanilla extract. Fold in the sifted dry ingredients until well incorporated (or whisk for a short period on the lowest setting). Then stir in your chocolate chips, caramels and/or nuts.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking pan, spread evenly, then bake on the middle helf of your preheated over for 25 minutes.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the pan.
To make the Chocolate Ganache: Tip the chocolate into a small heatproof bowl. Heat the cream & sugar together in a saucepan until the sugar has disolved and the cream is just boiling. Add a pinch of salt and pour over the chopped chocolate and leave to melt. Stir until completely smooth and then to cool, the ganache will thicken as it's cooling.
Once your brownies & ganache are both cool spread the ganache evenly over the brownies and decorate with your choice of toppings. This time I used Malteasers & White Coated Chocolate Balls for contrast but I use something different each time! Leave to set and then cut into squares.
Voilà!
YouTube Video: How To
Keep them stored in a tin or tupperware box in a cool place and the brownies should keep for about 4-5 days.
**Top tip: heat these in the microwave for 10-15 seconds before eating to create a warm scrummy pudding, the ganache will create a sauce!**
If you make these please let me know and tag me in your Instagram and Twitter photos!
