How To Make Chocolate Chip & Hazelnut Brownies

What you will need:

150g plain flour

200g butter

300g caster sugar

4 free range eggs

80g cocoa powder

4 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

100g chocolate chips

100g hazelnuts (chopped)

14 x 10 inch rectangular baking tin

Icing sugar for dusting

Morning!

We’re now in Day Two of Chocolate Week here at Cherry Menlove and today I’ve got a classic for you.

A good chocolate brownie recipe is something that anyone with even the slightest interest in baking should have under their belt. They are easy to make and taste heavenly.

But, BUT, the thing about rustling up a batch of Chocolate Brownies for yourself, your family or guests is that the smell which wafts through the house as they are baking is quite unlike any other. It’s mouthwatering, cosy, exciting and homely all at the same time. And THAT is why it’s good to have a recipe such as this under your belt. To whip out at a moments notice.

I use it when I’m in the dog house and Robert the Husband needs cajoling. He doesn’t know this recipe so when Robert needs to get out of trouble he offers to buy me a cross trainer.

Now I know I’ve just been waxing lyrical abort these brownies but I gotta say when an offer like this is made to a heavily pregnant body it sounds FAR BETTER than my brownie offer.

Pre-heat your oven to 175c (this is the temperature for a fan assisted oven)

Click here for our cooking and baking weight conversion chart

Grease your baking tray ( we used one which was 14 x 10 inch and rectangular) with a little butter and set to one side.

Using a sharp knife or mezzaluna, chop the hazelnuts into small pieces but not so small that they go powdery.
Break-up/chop the chocolate into small pieces and then set them and the chopped hazelnuts to one side.
In a saucepan, over a low heat, melt the butter until it is runny.
Then, in a large mixing bowl, sift in the flour and cocoa.
Add the sugar, eggs, vanilla essence, baking powder and salt to the bowl.
Then pour in the melted butter and mix well until the mixture is smooth and shiny (official baking term there!!)
We mixed our brownie mixture in a food mixer, but this could also be mixed by hand.
Add the chocolate chips and the chopped hazelnuts, use a wooden spoon to fold all the ingredients together (not the mixer).

Pour the brownie mixture into the greased tin and spread out evenly over the base.
Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.
Once removed from the oven, allow the brownies to cool completely before removing from the pan.
Once cooled, cut the brownie into smaller squares and dust with icing sugar before serving.

A batch of freshly baked brownies is akin to a bowl of chicken noodle soup, creamy mashed potato or a huge bowl of ice cream when you’re feeling a little blue. Not that I’m condoning comfort or emotional eating, Oprah would KILL me! But some foods hit a spot. And whatever your spot may be make sure you have this recipe to call on when it needs hitting.

Love to you all,

Cherry xoxox
(SO excited about the cross trainer offer. May have to act all moody for a bit longer in order to seal it’s arrival. My god, what have I become???? These babies are turning me in to a prime time manipulator. Sorry Robert, I’ll be back soon, but needs must. The size of my thighs are starting to scare the cat)

Click here for day one of chocolate week

Click here for day three of chocolate week

Click here for day four of chocolate week
****************************************************

Join my Facebook page!

Cherry Menlove