It's Chocolate Week!......Chunky Chocolate Brownies!

Chocolate Is Love!

Chocolate.....is there anything better? probably not!

I have yet to meet anyone who does not like chocolate in some shape or form, and nowadays it comes in so many forms!
You can get chocolate bars in milk, dark, plain, white with all sorts of things added like nuts, fruit, Oreos, even jelly beans! chocolate eggs, chips, chunks, powder, spreads and creams are only some of the ways we can enjoy this heavenly luxury.

But there is good chocolate and there is not so good chocolate, and it all comes down to the percentage of cocoa mass in your bar! The higher the cocoa mass, the better the chocolate!
So when it comes to cooking with chocolate I recommend you choose a chocolate with a minimum of 65% cocoa solids.

you can find technical info on chocolate here! if you're interested, but if not, on with the recipe!

I adore a good chocolate brownie and these are so devilishly good I only make them once a year as a special Halloween treat, They are always the first thing to disappear from the Halloween party buffet!
You may like them with cinnamon or you may like them with ginger, but if you want to leave the spice out that's okay too, they are still delicious! Some people insist that a brownie must have walnuts or pistachios, I prefer my brownies nut free!

For my Chunky Chocolate Brownies you will need: this recipe makes approx 12

200 g dark chocolate minimum 65% cocoa
150 g unsalted butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
150 g light soft brown sugar
3 medium eggs
120 g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
30 g dark cocoa powder....not drinking chocolate! ....it's not the same thing.
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon or ground ginger
200 g chocolate chips in milk, plain, white or dark

How to:

• pre-heat your oven to 160 degrees centigrade
• butter a deep baking tray or you can use a disposable foil tray which is good for parties!
• break the dark chocolate into small pieces and place in a heat proof bowl with the butter, vanilla
• place over a pan of hot but not boiling water to melt gently, stir as it melts so everything becomes nice and smooth
• take the chocolate mixture off the heat and transfer to a large bowl big enough to hold your brownie batter when everything else has been added
• leave to cool slightly while you do the rest of your preparation

• sieve the flour, baking powder, cocoa and spices and set aside
• whisk the eggs with the brown sugar using a mixer until the mixture begins to thicken and get light in colour
• whisk the egg and sugar mixture into the chocolate....if it looks like it is going to curdle add a few spoonfuls of flour but keep mixing
• when all the eggs have been added you can fold in any remaining flour and mix well to give you a thick batter
• add 100 g of the chocolate chips and stir into your mix
• pour the batter into your buttered dish or foil tray then scatter the rest of the chocolate chips on top
• place your tray on the middle shelf of the oven and bake until the top begins to crack but the centre is still moist
• leave to cool then cover and let them sit overnight to get nice and gooey

When cool you can cut them into bite size brownies or nice big squares if you're greedy! 

The bigger the chocolate chip you can get, the better, but if not then you could always chop up some chocolate from a bar into chunks yourself.

You don't have to eat brownies on their own, you could always have them for dessert! Warm them up a little and top them with some good vanilla ice cream, fresh whipped cream  and a drizzle or drowning of caramel sauce..........divine!