These Fudgy Brownies were born from a small experiment. I had the urge to make some brownies and revisited my original (now axed) brownie recipe and research. I had previously just accepted that brownies made with melted chocolate were the generally accepted style, however, looking again I actually realised there is a split between those recipes and ones which are pure cocoa powder based. It seems there is no general consensus which is the better brownie and so I decided to make a set of each. Whilst my Fudgy Chocolate Brownies turned out really nice, and I could easily eat a plate of them, I found myself going back to the cocoa based brownies a lot more. I think because they are less rich but still fudgy (have I used that word enough times) that they're a lot easier to binge on. They're also a tad cheaper to make as you don't need to buy chocolate to make them. I know one of the concerns of chocolate-free brownies is that they could be too cakey, well, I don't think this is the case with my recipe.
Makes 16-32
Hands-on Time 10 minutes
Baking Time 28 minutes
Ingredients
190g Unsalted butter plus extra for greasing
165g Caster sugar
165g Light brown sugar
3 Eggs, large
1 tbsp Vanilla extract
90g Plain flour
90g Cocoa powder
1/2 tsp Fine sea salt
Equipment
Baking pan, deep sided (25cmx20cm)
Baking parchment
Microwaveable bowl
Microwave
Spatula
Mixing bowl
Whisk
Sieve
Wire rack
Preheat the oven to 170°C/150°C(Fan)/325°F/Gas mark 3.
Grease the pan using butter before lining with a piece of baking parchment.
Pop the 190 grams of butter into a microwaveable bowl and microwave for no more than 30 seconds at a time until melted. Stir during the intervals with a spatula to help with the melting.
Whisk together the sugars and eggs in a bowl for about a minute.
Whilst still whisking, pour in the melted butter until incorporated.
Add the vanilla and give another quick whisk.
Sieve the flour, cocoa, and salt over the mixture and fold in using a spatula until there are no specks.
Transfer the mixture into the lined tin. Give the tin a gentle shake to level out the mixture along with a few taps on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.
Pop the tin into the oven on a middle shelf for 28 minutes. If you want a more baked brownie, keep it in there for another 2 more minutes.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for about 15-30 minutes before lifting the brownie slab onto a wire rack using the parchment. When the brownie is cool to the touch, pop it into the fridge to cool at least for an hour, ideally overnight if you want to cut crisp lines.
Cut the brownie up into large or small portions before tucking in.
Enjoy!
