Dark Chocolate Nutty Brownies

Brownies?  I mentioned them to a friend recently; her response: "you mean those Girl Guide types?"  No girlfriend, I mean chocolatey, nutty, gooey lumps that you hoover up with a cup of tea.  I made a batch the other day, and as is my wont, I added a few little twists.  I prefer dark chocolate so I used that, and I added some PB chips and white choc chips to give it an even bigger chocolatey boost. 

The basic recipe is from a cookbook printed in 1978, called The Australian & New Zealand Family Cookbook, a treasure trove of what we would now see as somewhat old-fashioned dishes.   Can't wait to try out the Seamen's Stew!  And I bet you thought using cauliflower as a steak or rice was a new-fangled idea.  Nope, this book has a recipe for nut and cauliflower flan, set on a shortcrust pastry base.  Sounds really delicious.



ingredients: 


125g. butter

185g. dark chocolate with roast almonds - I used an Old Gold block

6 tsp water

125g. caster sugar 

1 tsp vanilla extract

125g. self-raising flour

pinch of salt

2 large eggs

60g. chopped nuts - I used 30g. each of walnuts and pecans

50g. peanut butter chips

40g. white chocolate chips


Method:


Set your oven to 180C/325F

Put the butter, dark chocolate and water in a medium saucepan

Melt it gently, giving it a stir now and then

Take it off the stove, add the sugar and vanilla, give it a good stir and set it aside to cool

Sift the flour and salt into a medium bowl

Then stir the chocolate mixture into the flour

Add the eggs one at a time and mix in well

Fold in the nuts and peanut butter chips

Spoon the batter into a greased 20cm. (8 inch) square baking tin - some recipes suggest lining with baking paper instead of greasing so take your pick

Throw over the white choc chips on top of the delicious batter


Bake for 30-35 minutes or until "a knife plunged into the centre comes out clean" - I had to quote that bit 'cos it sounds so good

I actually like my brownies a leetle bit squidgy so you can take them out of the oven a few minutes before you have a clean knife if you fancy them like that too

Cool, cut into squares and sift some icing sugar over the top if you like even more decadence - of course you do!

casting on the cute little white choc buttons 

yep I could eat a few of these 

This recipe is so easy peasy, even your toddler could do it - blindfolded:=)  And you can ring up the changes as you please - different nuts, different chocolates, add some spices like cinnamon, whatever takes your fancy.

Author: Girl Guides of Canada 1945

Young Canadian girl in her Brownies uniform  (source: Wikimedia Commons).

or the other type of Brownie

Source: Wikimedia Commons- author VateVG - Public Domain