I’ve been updating some blogs from the past and THIS is my all-time favorite Brownies Recipe. It takes a ton of chocolate and I think that’s what makes them sooo gormet. 

Since originally writing this blog post in 2012 Bex has worked at many foodie magazines, written a book, got married and had little one. She also now runs her own workshops in her beautiful kitchen. Go give her a follow on Instagram @Rebecca_Woolard  and find out more.

I have just had the busiest week ever, shooting five days in a row. (I’ve never done that before!). Add in a 2 hour journey each way, each day and making cakes in the evenings, there was little time for sleep, let alone blogging. I have really missed writing here! So today you’ll get two for the price of one!

Gourmet brownies

Bex (aka Rebecca Smith, deputy food Editor on Delicious magazine and the foodie behind the truefoodie blog) and I used to sit together when we worked at Woman and Home magazine. She has such an amazing knowledge of food it’s fascinating! She can throw a recipe together out of thin air. I so wish I had the knowledge to do that.

One of my favourite of her recipes are these brownies. They’re not just any brownies. They’re Gourmet Brownies! And once you’ve tasted them you’ll understand why. They’re so moist you can’t even cut them into squares without having to clean the knife in between cuts as it gets so glooped up with chocolate heaven.

Top tips

I have made these loads of times. My friend Karen recently invited us round for a gathering and at the end of her email she said “and if you want to bring your brownies that would be great!” But recently I have had a few flops. So by learning from my mistakes here are my top tips on how to make the best brownies:-

• Make them the night before you want to eat them. They take ages to cool down. I mean hours!
• Never cut them into squares when they are still hot. Apart from the fact that it’s practically impossible it makes it more difficult, each cut edge will go really crunchy and dry and they’ll be hard rather than moist.
• When checking to see if brownies are baked to perfection make sure that an inserted skewer comes out clean. Don’t do what I did and take them out of the oven without even checking, then, running late for a family house warming and thinking I’d just cut them up when I got there I popped them in the boot of the car in a cardboard box- still hot in the tin. They were still too hot to cut up when we arrived, so I put them outside in the freezing cold garden to speed up the cooling process while we ate lunch. When I finally got to remove the brownies from the tin and made the first cut they were still all goo inside! No where near baked! Nightmare.
• Once you have removed the tin from the oven, leave it to cool on a wire rack for around 20 minutes then remove them from the tin (still in the paper) and leave to cool completely on the rack. If you leave them to cool completely in the tin they can dry out too much.

Brownie ingredients

• 275 g dark chocolate (60% dark chocolate is best)
• 225g unsalted butter
• 400g caster sugar
• 5 eggs- beaten
• 200g plain flour
• ½ tea-spoon vanilla extract
• 150g milk or white chocolate (optional)
• Pinch of salt

How to make gourmet brownies

Heat your oven to 180 C, 160 c fan, gas mark 4. Line a baking tray with grease proof paper.

Measure out all the ingredients. This is something I am doing more and more, rather than measuring as I go. It definitely reduces mistakes!

In a large saucepan melt the chocolate and then add the butter and blend them together. Don’t turn your back on the chocolate for a second. It burns really quickly!

Add in the sugar and stir till completely blended

Add the beaten eggs and vanilla essence

Slowly fold in the flour and stir well

You can add any chocolate to these brownies. I tend to grab what I’ve got in my store cupboard and chop it up with a big knife, but chocolate chips work just as well.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin.

Bake for 35-40 minutes then remove to cool for 20 minutes on a wire rack. After that remove the brownies( in the paper)from the tin and leave to cool on the rack until completely cool.
Once cold, slice into squares and get ready to eat!

Pop them in a tin ready to take to your sister in-law’s in plenty of time – only this time completely baked!

enjoy!

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