Chocolate brownies

Sometimes you just have one of those days. Those sorts of days when nothing terrible happens, but little thing after little thing happens and you get to a point where need a bit of a pick-me-up. I recently had one of those days and these chocolate brownies certainly helped. They’re decadent yet easy to make. Chewy, crunchy and goey all at once and can made and baked within a child’s naptime – if that’s when you need them the most ;)…

I used the National Trust Cookbook’s gluten free brownie recipe as a guide, just substituting a few ingredients. It’s a cookbook I picked up a few years ago, mainly to reminisce about some of the lovely National Trust houses I visited while living in England. It’s no longer available on the official National Trust website, but you can still purchase it elsewhere. If you love seasonal cooking, it’s a delight.

What you’ll need

• 175g of soft margarine (I used the same quantity of unsalted butter)
• 65g of cocoa powder
• 300g of caster sugar
• 3 beaten eggs
• 1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract (I used the same quantity of vanilla bean paste)
• pinch of salt
• 115g gluten free self-raising flour (I used the same quantity of regular SR flour)

How to do it

1. Preheat a fan-forced oven to 180°C and line a square or slice tin with baking paper.
2. Heat the margarine/butter in a medium saucepan over a low heat until it’s just melted, then stir in the cocoa powder until it’s just dissolved.
3. Take the pan off the heat and mix in the sugar. Beat together the eggs, vanilla and salt, then half at a time, add to the dark brown sugary cocoa mixture, mixing well. Add in the flour and then beat until smooth.
4. Pour the mixture into your lined tin and then bake for 18-20 minutes or until well risen – some cracks around the edges, but with a slight wobble in the centre.
5. Leave to cool in the pan for 15 minutes or so, then mark out your portions and then leave to cool completely. Remove from the pan using the baking paper and then cut completely.

My freshly baked brownies made for an excellent afternoon tea with a cuppa. They’ve also worked well as a morning tea treat with a coffee, for dessert, or in the case of Adam… an indulgent pre-breakfast Father’s Day treat.

You could fancy them up with a dusting of icing sugar and a side of berries or with a scoop of best quality vanilla ice-cream.

Do you have any recipes that you turn to when you need a little mood booster?!

Have a wonderful week.

M. x