As a student, I naturally have a VERY boring summer job that I absolutely hate. So I thought what better way to add a bit of enjoyment into my day, than to make me and my big brother (we work together) some brownies. Yes, I'm a wonderful sister.
I chose this brownie recipe because it's pretty simple. Majority of recipes are a bit too OTT in my opinion, nuts here, coffee there. I happen to hate both of those so I've found myself a nice plain bog standard recipe. This particular one if from an M&S Home Baking book, so I hope you enjoy. It comes with an optional chocolate fudge sauce which I have included for you, but didn't make, so if anyone does decide an extra few calories should be included, let me know how it goes!!
Ingredients
115g/4oz butter (plus extra for greasing)
115g/4oz plain chocolate, broken into pieces (I actually used Cadbury's Dairy Milk - I always do, it just tastes so much better)
300g/10.5oz golden caster sugar
pinch of salt
1tsp vanilla essence
2 large eggs
140g/5oz plain flour
2tbsp cocoa powder (I used Cadbury's Drinking Chocolate Powder - like always- it's amazing)
100g/3.5oz white chocolate chips (I used Green and Black's white chocolate, because it's amazingly indulgent and isn't that just what brownies should be?)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade (350 Fahrenheit/gas mark 4)
Grease and line the bottom of a tin. The book says 18cm/7inch square but mine was 11x7.5 inches and was fine.
Place the butter and chocolate in a small heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water until melted. Stir until smooth. Leave to cool slightly.
If you're using Dairy Milk like I did, you need to be especially careful when doing this as it has a tendency to burn as it's not as resilient as cooking chocolate. I always bring my water to the boil and then take the pan off the heat before melting my chocolate. You must constantly stir the chocolate and butter whilst melting to prevent any sticking to the bottom and burning).
I then added my butter and chocolate to a bigger bowl and stirred in the sugar, salt and vanilla essence. Then add the eggs one at a time until blended.
I stirred all of this in by hand. Brownies don't require an electric mixer, I find they don't enable the right gooey texture at the end.
Sift in the four and cocoa powder and beat until smooth. At first it will look a bit doughy but persevere because it will come right in the end. Stir in the chocolate chips and then pour the mixture into the tin.
As i used a full Green and Black's White Chocolate bar, I found the easiest way to break the bar down was with the smooth side of a meat tenderising hammer. This is a great stress reliever.
Bake in the preheated over for 35 to 40 minutes, or until top is evenly coloured and a cocktail stick inserted into the centre comes out almost clean. Leave to cool.
I baked mine for 32 minutes as I like my brownies gooey. I recommend this!
All that's left is to slice your brownies up and enjoy!
However, if you're feeling naughty and fancy the sauce, here's the instructions.
Ingredients
4tbsp butter
225g/8oz golden caster sugar
150ml/5fl oz milk
250ml/9fl oz double cream
225g/8 oz golden syrup
200g/7oz plain chocolate broken into pieces
Instructions
Place the butter, sugar, milk, cream and syrup into a small saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and stir for 10 minutes, or until the mixture is caramel coloured. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Stir until smooth. Cut the brownies into squares and serve immediately with the sauce.
So there you have it, my perfect brownie recipe. I'm hoping mine will make it through the weekend for work on Monday. This seems unlikely though as I've already eaten two whilst writing this! And I've got my whole family coming tomorrow. I think I'll have to hide them.
Happy eating!
Millie
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