Chocolate Brownies

Brownies have never been my thing. There, I’ve said it! I know that makes people think I’m a freak. I love chocolate but I never buy or order brownies. I’m not a huge fan of fudge cakes either, I generally prefer a lighter chocolate cake like this loaf. I even have a baking tin specifically for brownies but never used it for it’s proper purpose til now. I saw a recipe by John Waites for brownies with a pear crisp and it just sounded so nice that I decided to try my own. Of course I never got around to making the pear crisps but I did steal his idea to add chocolate chips to the batter. If I was making them just to eat myself I would use dark chocolate chips, but I used milk chocolate so that it’s more of a crowd pleaser.

This recipe is lighter than other brownie recipes, that won’t suit everyone but we loved it. Others add nuts to the recipe but I left them out. I also used soft dark brown sugar in the batter as it gives a richer taste, but use ordinary caster sugar if that’s what you have. The options for variations are endless – check out Aoife at Babaduck‘s recipe for raspberry brownies.

The raw batter is pretty good too, it’s worth making these just to lick the spoon! What?! I know I’m not the only one who does this.

These freeze well or can be stored in an airtight tin for a few days. Just reheat in a low oven of approx 140c/120c fan/gas mark 1 before serving.

Makes 8 generous servings

Ingredients:

200g good quality dark chocolate (at least 70%)
225g unsalted butter
3 eggs
200g soft dark brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
150g plain flour
¼ tsp salt
100g chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180c/160c fan/gas mark 4 and line a brownie pan (11″ x 7″) with baking paper.
Break the chocolate into a glass bowl and add the butter. Gently melt this over a pot of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Once melted, stir well together and set aside to cool slightly.
Whisk together the eggs, sugar and vanilla until they mixture becomes frothy and lighter in colour and the whisk leaves a figure of eight pattern in the mixture.
Pour in the cooled melted chocolate and mix well together.
Sieve the flour and salt into the liquid mixture, add the chocolate chips and fold everything gently together until just combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out as evenly as possible.
Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes until the top has become lighter in colour and starts to crack slightly on top. You want the middle to still have a slight wobble as they will continue to cook in the tin as they cool and you don’t want overcooked brownies!
Allow to cool for about 5 minutes and then cut into squares. Serve with cream or ice cream, or just on their own.