Crispy on the outside, fudgy and gooey in the inside. Brownies as they should be. Feel free to add any toppings you like!

Servings: Makes approx 12 brownies

Ingredients:

• 150 g + 70 g good quality dark chocolate, at least 60-65% cocoa (roughly chopped)
• 100 g butter
• 200 g soft dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 65 g self-raising flour
• 45 g cocoa
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• splash of milk
• pinch of salt
• Any toppings of your liking (eg: “hard” eg: pistachios, M&M’s, caramel chocolates or “soft” eg: Nutella, peanut butter)

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
2. Line a square brownie tin approx 20 cm x 20 cm with non-stick baking paper (or likely grease with some butter.
3. In a microwave in 30 seconds bursts, or over a bain-marie, melt 150g of chocolate and the butter (takes approx 1 min, 30 seconds). Stir to combine
4. Add the flour, cocoa (ideally both sifted), sugar, salt and vanilla to the mixture. Mix well to combine. This also helps bring down the temperature of the chocolate mixture to avoid scrambling the eggs
5. Then add the eggs and milk and mix well to combine. Finally chuck in the reserved chocolate pieces and mix again.
6. Pour into the lined brownie tin. If you intend to add “soft” toppings, now is the time. This can be dolloped onto the mixture. Then swirl it in using a spoon or knife.
7. Otherwise, bake the brownie for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the skewer or knife inserted into the middle comes out clean except the tip. NB: if you want to add “hard” toppings: Bake the brownie for 10 minutes, then remove from oven and quickly scatter the toppings over the partially cooked brownie. Return to oven ASAP and cook for another 15-20 mins, checking for doneness as above.
8. Allow to cool in the tin for at least 10-15 minutes, then transfer to a wired rack to cool completely for at least 30 minutes.
9. Cut into 12 portions and dust with icing sugar if desired.

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Notes

If not eating immediately, once cooled, these brownies can be kept in an airtight container for up to 3-5 days (if somehow they last that long without being devoured!).

When it comes to adding “hard” toppings I recommend adding them after 10 minutes of cooking. This prevents them from somewhat sinking to the middle of the brownie leaving weird wells. It also saves the toppings from getting burnt/overcooked.

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As mentioned above, it is important to take the brownies out of the oven before the skewer or knife would come out clean (unlike when baking a cake). If it comes out clean except for the tip, that’s brilliant – as per image below. The brownie continues to cook at it rests out of the oven. And we want that fudgey consistency! You may opt for an even fudgier consistency and shorten the cooking time further by 10 minutes.

In all instances, it is always crucial that you let the brownie cool down completely BEFORE cutting into it, no matter the temptation. If cut while hot, it will get crushed and fall apart.

This recipe can easily be doubled. If you are cooking this with a different shaped/sized tin, you will need to adjust cooking times accordingly. The thicker the brownie, the longer it will need to cook. Always use the skewer/knife method to guide you.

EDIT: As some feedback rightly pointed out, if you are going for a really sweet topping such as Nutella, I would recommend either reducing or omitting the chocolate chunks added at the end prior to baking. Otherwise you could opt to reduce the sugar added to 175g! They’re meant to be sweet and decadent, but not THAT sweet! 🙂