April 30, 2020July 23, 2020

This is a decadent dessert recipe you can prepare in a flash. The bulk of the time preparing this dish will be spent waiting patiently while the brownies bake. A few reasons to bake your own brownies rather than to buy them from a store is you know exactly what ingredients are going in, they are fresher, and the fruit of your labour always tastes better. Tasty treats like brownies and cookies often come as a packaged product in stores. In order for these packaged treats to remain tasty and edible while they sit on the supermarket shelves, the manufacturers often use preservatives & additives that are otherwise unnecessary when making your own at home.

Yield: 16 brownies
Preparation Time: About 25 minutes
Baking Time: About 40 minutes

Digging around:

Have a look around the house for some treats that come in a package, and read the list of ingredients. How many ingredients are there that you don’t recognize?
How many ingredients are in our Chocolate Brownies recipe? Are there any ingredients you don’t recognize? If so, find out what they are.

INGREDIENT LIST

2 tsp (10mL) butter (to grease the pan)
¾ cup (175mL) toasted nuts (pecan, walnuts or hazelnuts)
2/3 cup (150mL) all purpose flour
½ tsp. (2mL) salt
½ tsp. (2mL) baking powder
¾ cup (175mL / 6 oz.) good quality chocolate chips
2/3 cup (150mL) unsalted butter
1 ¼ cup (300mL) sugar
2 tsp. (10mL) vanilla
3 large eggs

EQUIPMENT LIST

measuring cups and spoons
baking pan, to toast nuts
8 inch square baking pan
foil or parchment paper
plastic bag (to roll nuts in)
rolling pin
large heatproof bowl
medium-sized pot
dinner knife
whisk
small bowl
wooden spoon
rubber spatula
wooden skewer
cooling rack

METHOD

1. Place oven rack in the middle position of the oven. Turn on to 160C (325F)

2. Grease sides of pan with butter. Fit foil or parchment in the pan and up 2 sides, so that you can use the foil or parchment as handles to pull the cooked brownies from the pan. Lightly rub the foil with butter, if using foil.

3. Place the nuts in another baking pan and place in the oven for 8 – 10 minutes, or until a golden brown and you can smell them. Remove the pan and let cool.

4. When nuts are cool, place in a plastic bag or Ziplock bag, remove the air and seal the bag. With a rolling pin, lightly crush the nuts. Put aside for now.

5. Measure the all purpose flour, salt and baking powder into a small bowl and whisk together.

6. Fill a medium-sized pot ¼ full with water. Place pot on the stove and turn on to high. When the water simmers, turn the heat off.

7. Cut the butter into small pieces with a dinner knife. Place the butter and chocolate in a large bowl and set over the simmering water. The bowl should not touch the water. Stir the butter and chocolate with a wooden spoon until melted. Remove the bowl from the pot and wipe the water from the bottom of the bowl.

8. Add the sugar and the vanilla to the melted chocolate mixture and mix until smooth.

9. Crack the eggs into a small bowl. Whisk the eggs into the chocolate mixture, one at a time. Fully mix in each egg before adding the next one. Mix until the batter is smooth and glossy.

10. Add the dry ingredients and fold in to the chocolate mixture only until just combined.

11. Fold in the toasted nuts.

12. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, using a rubber spatula to scrape out all of the batter. Spread the batter evenly in the pan.

13. Bake the brownies about 40 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out with wet crumbs when poked into the centre of the pan of brownies. Check after 35 minutes.

14. Remove from the oven and cool on a cooking rack.

15. Once cool, use foil handles to pull the brownies out of the pan. Cut into squares.

SKILLS

STEP-BY-STEP – BROWNIES!

STEP 1
Gather your ingredients. Today, we are using walnuts.

STEP 2
Butter the baking pan, and cover with parchment paper, leaving the ends of the paper to stick out.

STEP 3
Place the nuts in a Ziploc bag. Crush gently using a rolling pin, can, or heavy object.

STEP 4
Place the dry ingredients into a small bowl.

STEP 5
Place the chocolate and butter into a large bowl. Fill a medium-sized pot a quarter way with water and bring to a gentle simmer. Now place the bowl on top.

STEP 6
Using a spatula to stir, melt and mix the butter and chocolate together until it is a smooth mixture.

STEP 7
Transfer to a clean work surface. Wipe the bottom of the bowl with a towel. Place the bowl on top of the damp towel, this will help the bowl from slipping about.