In the summer of 2005 I had a hideous sickness bug that left me bed ridden and inexplicably bored for two weeks as my Dad made me watch the Ashes all day, everyday. But it wasn’t this boredom nor the fact we actually won the Ashes tournament (or whatever) that reminds me of that summer, it is the amount of dodgy brownies I tried to shove in my mouth when I started to feel a bit better.

Needless to say, the result of such greed made me more sick and I was convinced it was brownies I hated and not the shopkeeper who sold me the out of date/mouldy cake for the next eight years. Two years ago of course (around the same time I started my first grown up job, coincidentally) I realised what a fool I had been and begun making brownies whenever I could – adding different ingredients like crushed Oreos for a sweeter and more fantastic taste! These brownies go brilliantly with some fresh cream and are guaranteed to wow your friends…if you follow this recipe anyway!

Ingredients:

• 185g softened unsalted butter
• 75g light brown soft sugar
• 200g caster sugar
• 185g dark chocolate
• 3 medium eggs, beaten
• 40g cocoa powder
• 85g sifted plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• A pack of Oreos (see foot of recipe for alternative fillings/toppings)

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees C and line a deep rectangular baking tray (around 30cm). Once complete, break the chocolate into squares and place into a saucepan with the butter and place over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until both the chocolate and butter are melted. Leave to cool.
2. Place the eggs and sugar into a mixing bowl and then use an electric whisk (or a cake mixer) to beat together for about 5 minutes until you get a thick, mousse like mixture. Next, pour your chocolate/butter mix into the bowl and fold together with a spoon.
3. Finally, add your sifted flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and a pinch of salt to the bowl and gently fold together until just mixed (it doesn’t matter if the mixture is a bit lumpy and a bit of flour is still evident). Pour the mixture into your baking tray and place into the oven.
4. Once your brownie mix is in the oven, begin crushing your Oreos. You don’t want to crush them too fine, just break them into small chunks so you get the look, taste and crunch of the Oreos in your brownies. After 10 minutes of your brownie mixture being in the oven, remove and quickly place the Oreo pieces on top, ever so gently pressing them into the brownie – you still want them to be visible but you also want them to stick and sink into the brownie – I decide to add the Oreos after the brownie had been cooking for 10 minutes as to avoid the Oreo cream filling melting slightly, thus losing their appearance.
5. Place your brownie mixture back into the oven for the remaining 15 minutes. Brownies should still be a little gooey inside so they don’t have to be completely baked all the way through (like a cake), they should have a slight spring to them.
6. Remove the brownies from the oven and leave to cool for 45-60 mins. Once cool, cut into squares and serve/take a bow.

Nic x

N.B. You do not have to use Oreos as the topping or filling. I have also used mars bars (cut up four bars into chunks and place half within the mixture and the remaining half on top, ten minutes after baking so the pieces don’t completely melt) or Cadbury fudge bars (cut up 4 bars and either add into the mixture or place on top of brownie 10 minutes after baking to avoid melting).