Shout out to SJ for inspiring, and being instrumental in the execution, of this adapted recipe. Instead of the flour, we used ground hazelnuts, which if possible make the brownies even more gooey, in a kind of nutella-delicious way. We have been making brownies all year in the IC, with no weighing scales and a very temperamental oven, and each batch has been almost perfect. It is pretty much the definition of a fool-proof recipe.
Again, here the quality of the chocolate is fundamental. When short on moolah, or just a bit sickened at the thought of spending 5-7 euro on chocolate, I compromise with 200g of the cheapest dark chocolate I can find (look for at least 45-50% cacao) and 100g of something like Lindt 85%. The fancy chocolate will cover any bum notes of fake sweetener.
300g chocolate
200g butter
200g caster sugar
3 eggs
100g ground hazelnuts
50g cocoa powder
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180 C
2. Melt the butter and chocolate together. I generally do it in the microwave, but be careful not to burn the chocolate. Go in quick short bursts, and give it a stir every 30 secs or so. Also, you can do it in a bain marie, basically a bowl suspended over a saucepan of boiling water. Here, you just need to be sure that absolutely no water gets in contact with the chocolate.
3. In another bowl, whisk the sugar with the eggs until the mixture is shiny and light.
4.Add the chocolate mix to the eggs, and mix to combine. You will notice that the mixture suddenly gets quite thick and unctuous.
5.Add in the ground hazelnuts and the cocoa powder and combine.
6. Pour your mixture into a greased non-stick pan, shaking it around to get it reasonably flat.
7. Pop the tray into the oven, and bake for about 20 mins. The brownies should still be reasonably gooey when you take them out. They will continue to cook from the residual heat of the pan. Also, an undercooked brownie is much preferable to the dry, overcooked variety.
If you can wait, we’ve decided they are possibly even nicer the day after. Generally though, this is wishful thinking. Serve with vanilla ice-cream and berries (if you’re fancy..) Enjoy.
