Nigella’s Brownies
I am obsessed with all baked foods, but brownies have a truly special place in my heart. There is little more satisfying in this world than the first bite of an epic chocolate brownie. Quick shout out to Picnic Company’s Decadent Belgian Dark Chocolate Brownies. Now that’s a little burst of happiness everyone should try in their lives.
However, should you be in the mood to bake your own, one of the ultimate go-to brownie recipes is, naturally, Nigella’s. It’s just so yum, you really can’t go wrong. Of course, she doesn’t hold back on butter or sugar but people, it’s brownies. If you’re going to do it, let’s be all in!
The recipe is below, with a few minor comments or changes I made when I was baking. I've also added an image below of the brownies, pre-cut, as they came out of the oven. Oh yes, that is the unbleached natural brown baking paper being used to line the dish. Completely non-stick and the brownie batter can be easily released from the pan. Which is highly useful as these brownies are gooey.
INGREDIENTS makes: maximum of 48 but probably less because you want a decent square size right.
375 grams soft unsalted butter
375 grams best-quality dark chocolate
6 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
500 grams caster sugar
225 grams plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
300 grams chopped walnuts – I used blanched hazelnuts as a substitute
METHOD
You will need a tin measuring approximately 33 x 23 x 5½cm / 13 x 9 x 2¼ inches
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/350°F/gas mark 4. Line your brownie pan - I think it's worth lining the sides as well as the base. Use KKD’s Siliconised Baking Paper for this.
- Melt the butter and chocolate together in a large heavy-based pan. In a bowl or large wide-mouthed measuring jug, beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla. Measure the flour into another bowl and add the salt.
- When the chocolate mixture has melted, let it cool a bit before beating in the eggs and sugar, and then the nuts and flour.
Beat to combine smoothly and then scrape out of the saucepan into the lined pan.
- Bake for about 25 minutes. When it's ready, the top should be dried to a paler brown speckle, but the middle still dark and dense and gooey. And even with such a big batch you do need to keep alert, keep checking: the difference between gungy brownies and dry brownies is only a few minutes; remember that they will continue to cook as they cool.
When I took these out the oven, they were very gooey, which can be a little tricky to handle but they are so delicious, it’s worth it. Additionally, they keep really well in the fridge and every day, get tastier and tastier!
I shared these with the in-laws who LOVED them. Scored major brownie points…excuse the pun.