Heaven in a Bite

My Go To Chocolate Brownie Recipe 

If there is one recipe I have perfected over the years it is chocolate brownies; a favourite with everyone, easily adaptable with flavours and a definite guilty pleasure, these are easily my favourite thing to cook. You know you are onto a winner when the go to gift item for my friends is a new brownie tin. 

Originally a Jamie Oliver recipe, over the years I have adapted this to suit my own (& others) tastes and create a decadent desert that is divine both hot and cold. To make these at home follow the directions below. 

Ingredients 

250gm butter

2 x 110gm Lindt chocolate (don’t use cheap cooking chocolate for these; if you want luxury, use luxury ingredients)

5 x free range / organic XL eggs 

3.5tbs x flour 

4.5tbs x Bourneville cocoa powder (or another high quality one)

1tsp baking powder

1.5 cups castor sugar 

Method 

Melt the butter in a microwave / over a low heat & then remove 

Combine the chocolate with butter; the residual heat of the butter will melt the chocolate with the need for additional heat

Add in your flour, baking and cocoa powders and mix until combined

Add in the caster sugar; at this point your mixture will have a grainy texture to it

Add in your eggs one at a time; combine until your mixture is smooth and glossy and well combined (e.g. sticks to the spoon)

Place mixture in a lined brownie tin and cook for 20-25 minutes in a 180 degree oven;

I always make these the night before I need them; once cooled, I will place these in the fridge to set. In the morning you will find that the brownies are much easier to cut as they butter has hardened the mixture. Let them return to room temperature before serving.

Variations 

The variations you can make on this recipe is only limited by your imagination as a baker. The basic mixture, whilst rich, can be enhanced with a variety of favour combinations. Below are a few of my favourites. 

Chilli

Chilli & chocolate is a classic combination; something we can thank the ancient Aztecs for.

Use either fresh chillies, pimento (ground / crushed chilli paste) or chilli powder. There’s no limit, aside from your own taste buds as to how hot you can make these. I have a friend who loves these but no matter how much chilli I put in, it never quite seems to be hot enough for his liking!!

Tim Tam 

Simply chop one full packet of Tim Tams and mix into the batter before transferring to the baking dish. 

Fantale

Simple chop one full 250gm packet of Fantales and mix into the batter. Alternatively, you can stick them in whole is you want small, gooey bursts of caramel when you bit into them. 

Salted Caramel 

Simply chop one 200gm bag of Cadbury Caramels into small pieces and mix into the batter. Also add 1-2 teaspoons of good quality sea salt flakes and stir through. Once you have transferred the batter to the tin, sprinkle the top of the batter with a the sea salt flakes for an added burst. 

ADULTS ONLY - Red Wine

For a delectable adults only version, soak a cup of craisins in a good quality red wine for 1 - 2 days beforehand. Simply mix through as you would tim tams or fantales.

Essentially, the variations you can do with this recipe are endless; it's really only your imagination which will stop you experimenting with new flavours.

A few variations to avoid. 

Marshmallow

Whilst a great idea, the marshmallows melt at high heat and just create one large glob of brownie mixture. The increased sugar element also makes this dish incredibly sweet. 

Popping Candy

Again, great idea but popping candy, like marshmallow, dissolves with it comes into contact with any form of liquid such as a cake batter. 

#brownies #timtambrownies #chillibrownies #fantalebrownies #saltedcaramel #thosewhowanderneedfood