Snickers Brownies

What better way to start off an exciting blog venture with a recipe of something chocolatey and rich! Brownies! I wasn't prepared to make a cake immediately, so, to me brownies sounded just perfect. And what better chocolate to pick then the very delicious Snickers! You could pick any of your favourite chocolates, really. Maybe a Mars, Galaxy, Hersheys or even Toblerone. If I were you, I'd give wafer biscuit chocolates a miss. As much as i adore them, they're just not brownie material. Of course dark chocolate would be your best bet! Those heavenly pieces from Godiva or Ghirardelli...Mmmm..Need I say more?

My pick was Snickers, simply for the range of flavours it provides. Chocolate, nougat, caramel and peanuts together can hardly ever go wrong. And the result? An impeccable brownie, well-crusted on the outside with a soft, gooey inside. The intermittent bits of peanuts do a world of good!

                                    

Snickers Brownies

Serves: That honestly depends. Could serve even 1! But ideally 5-6.

Ingredients:

3 bars Snickers chocolate (59g each) 

                  or 

200g / 7.05 oz dark chocolate/any else you prefer

100g / 3.5 oz butter (preferably unsalted) 

60g flour (maida), sifted(passed through a sieve) 

3 eggs

100g sugar (you could use 125g if you enjoy it a tad sweet)

icing sugar/cocoa powder, to dust

A 7-inch square baking tray, ideally

(I used an 8-inch, as available)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 160 deg.C/ 320 deg. F
2. Mix the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (do not let the base    of the bowl touch the water). Keep stirring so as to not let the peanuts stick to the bottom. Leave until melted and smooth and set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, take the eggs and sugar and whisk thoroughly till you reach a frothy consistency. Add the sifted flour and fold in gently. Make sure your batter is well mixed before proceeding.
4. Stir in the melted chocolate-butter mixture until smooth.
5. Line your baking pan with parchment/butter paper and spoon in your batter. Bake for about 20 minutes. Check by inserting a thin knife/skewer. If it come's out clean, your done. If not, let it sit a minute or two longer in the oven.
6. Remove from the oven and pull out using the parchment/butter paper. Place on a cooling rack and let cool completely (I use my microwave stand as a cooling rack. Works for me!).
7. Dust with icing sugar/cocoa powder, cut into pieces and serve.

My Notes:

• Never melt chocolate directly over the stove. NEVER.
• If using milk chocolate, stick to 100g of sugar or the brownies turn out a little too sweet.
• Use a hand-mixer if possible, saves a whole lot of effort.
• Do not overcook the brownie, or the edges tend to get hard and too crunchy.
• The default way of eating leftover brownie is to heat it, most people will say so. But try a cold piece right out of the refrigerator. It's how I love it and it sure tastes as divine if not more!