Brownies

Brownies: my version of heaven. Serve them as a tea-time treat, as a scrummy dessert served warm with vanilla ice-cream, put one in a lunchbox for a treat, take some to a party; they are perfect. And the best bit is that they are so simple to make.

Line the bottom of a baking tin with greaseproof paper (tip: you don’t need to grease the greaseproof paper, someone in our house just got a little bit keen). I’m using a big tin here because we always cook these in double quantities. One lot gets eaten pretty much straight away by four little mouths waiting expectantly by the oven, the other lot is used for lunchboxes and tea-time treats.

Heat some water in a saucepan until simmering and then place a bowl on top of the saucepan. Cut up the butter into small pieces and put it in the bowl. You can do this bit in the microwave if you want but my nine year old is brilliant at taking care of this and while he’s doing that I can make sure the other ingredients are not being thrown all over the floor by my other ‘helpers’.

Break the chocolate into pieces and add that to the bowl with the butter in.

Stir it and let it melt (again, on low in the microwave if you prefer).

Break the eggs into a mixing bowl and beat.

Add the flour, sugar and walnuts. If you want to make these no-nut for school or allergies, just leave out the walnuts.

Now find yourself a couple of useful helpers to mix it all up.

Pour the melted chocolate and butter mix into the mixing bowl.

Beat all the ingredients together until smooth. Smooth, except for the walnuts obviously. I knew that.

Pour the mixture into the baking tin and bake for 30-35 minutes. Stick a knife into the brownie and it should come out with slightly sticky crumbs on it. If it comes out with wet mix on it, cook it longer. If it comes out with dry crumbs it’s overdone but then you have an excuse to eat that lot and make some more

Leave in the tin to cool and then cut into squares. Yours may look a bit more gooey in the middle than these as I cook mine an extra five minutes or so than the recipe asks for.

There, right there, a little bit of heaven on a plate.

Next time, I’ll post the recipe for toffee crunch brownies, another lovely brownie recipe. I know, I spoil you
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Recipe

50 g (2 oz) plain chocolate
65  g (2.5 oz) butter
175 g (6 oz) soft brown sugar
2 eggs
65 g (2 oz) self-raising flour
65 g (2.5 oz) walnut pieces (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (350 F/Gas Mark 4).

Line the bottom of a baking tin with greaseproof paper.

Heat some water in a saucepan until simmering and then place a bowl on top of the saucepan. Cut up the butter into small pieces and put it in the bowl. Break up the chocolate into pieces and add that to the bowl. Stir it and let it melt. Or you can put them into a microwave and cook on low until they have melted.

Break the eggs into a mixing bowl and beat. Add the flour, sugar and walnuts and mix.

Pour the melted chocolate and butter mix into the mixing bowl. Beat all the ingredients together until smooth.

Pour the mixture into the baking tin and bake for 30-35 minutes. Stick a knife into the brownie and it should come out with slightly sticky crumbs on it. If it comes out with wet mix on it, cook it longer. If it comes out with dry crumbs it’s overdone.

Leave in the tin to cool and then cut into squares.

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Welcome to the Friday Club Carnival, a weekly carnival held here. This week’s Carnival is all about cakes, cookies and other tea-time treats and here are the links to lots of other lovely recipes:

Nova at Cherished by Me gives us her Cherry,Coconut & Marshmallow Traybake. Kelly at Domestic Goddesque posts her recipe for heart-shaped jammy-dodger-style biscuits in Baking with a heart! Heather at SAHMLovingIt gives us her Scrumptious Beetroot Seed Cake Recipe. Jules at I Need Curtains for the Window in my Head posts her recipe for Almond Macaroons. Helen at Cheeky Wipes gives us her recipe for Coffee Cake. Gemma at HelloitsGemma’s Blog posts her (easiest) Banana Cake (ever). Sian at Pumpkin and Piglet posts her Chocolate Digestive Biscuits. Jax at Making It Up ponders making gingerbread. Cass at The Diary of a Frugal Family posts her Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies. Clare at Seasider in the City gives us her Mars Bar Cake. Bod for Tea shows us how she makes Iced Animal Biscuits. Maggy at Red Ted Art has a guest post from Maison Cupcake’s Sarah showing us how to make Love Heart Cookies. Rebecca at twobecomefour gives us her recipe for Beck’s Banana Bread. Jenny at Gingerbread House gives us her Gingerbread cupcakes. Tiddlyompompom shares the fun she has making cakes with her daughter in Have your cake and eat it.

Tagged as: friday club