A really good chocolate brownie is something to savour, soft and fluffy on the outside and slightly chewy on the inside - but never stodgy! And once you've tasted a good one, they're sure to become a favourite.
This quick and easy 'all in one bowl' recipe is easily prepared in 10 minutes (5 mins at a push), and cooks in 20 mins. Cooling carries the largest chunk of time, however they're so quick you can whip up a batch in the morning before work, at lunchtime or even just before bed, and then leave to cool so they're ready when needed.
Brownies are notoriously easy to undercook / overcook, ending up either with a 'raw batter' feel and taste, or resembling something more like cake or sponge rather than a brownie, therefore follow the ingredients quantities accurately and ensure your oven is properly preheated before putting the batter in to cook.
You may also need to adjust baking times anywhere between 20 and 25 minutes, to achieve the perfect consistency. But UNLIKE a typical cake batter which needs to be thoroughly cooked and firm to the touch before removing from the oven, the brownie batter needs to remain slightly 'wobbly' when removed, which gives it that soft, more dense texture when cold.
As with all our recipes, tweak according to personal preference and please feel free to leave your own hints, tips and recommendations in the comments section, we'd love to hear them!
Mixing bowl
Baking tin 20cm x 20cm (greased and lined with greaseproof paper / parchment)
Wooden spoon for mixing
Preheat oven to 1800C / 3500F
Makes 16 brownies
Preparation time : 5-10 minutes Cooing time: 20 mins Cooling time: 1 hour +
175g caster sugar
115g butter - melted
30g cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 medium eggs
115g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
30g Milk Chocolate
30g White Chocolate
1. Put all ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stir until well combined.
2. Grease and line a 26cm x 20cm baking tine with baking parchment / greaseproof paper (this will help during the later step of removing the brownie slab to cut into portions). Transfer the mixture to the tin - it will be quite stodgy, so use the spoon to spread the mixture out evenly in the tin.
3. Bake for 20 minutes on the middle shelf of the oven, until cooked.
Unlike the cocktail stick test with a sponge (when the stick is poked into the centre of the cake, if it comes out 'clean' the sponge is sufficiently cooked), if the stick comes out completely clean, then your brownie may be overdone.
To achieve a gooey, fudge type brownie, ideally, the edges of the brownie slab will be visibly baked (hard and may have pulled away from the sides of the tin), and the center will be 'set' i.e. not wiggly when you shake the pan. The top of your brownie slab should also be matt in appearance (no shine to the surface) and may / may not have some surface 'cracks' - this also says the brownie slab is done, so pull it out of the oven (even if there are a few minutes of baking time left.
4. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin.
5. When cold, lift the brownie slab out of the tin, transfer to a flat surface and cut into portions. Cutting the large slab into 4 quarters, and then cutting each quarter into quarters again, will provide 16 portions.
6. And lastly, ENJOY!
What to do with undercooked / overcooked brownies
Whether it's over / undercooked only becomes apparent when the brownie is cold, and tried. Hence the suggestion at the beginning that you may need to tweak timings depending on how your first batch comes out.
However if you have a tip, please feel free to share it in the comments section!
Now you have a basic recipe, why not experiment with other inclusions like nuts or dried fruit in addition to, or instead of the chocolate chips.
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