Annika Eats

Annika Eats

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weeknight cocoa brownies

This brownie is magical. Not just because of the fact it’s a brownie but because it is crunchy on the top, fudgy in the middle with bits of moist cake like crumbs and intensely flavored with chocolate.

Most brownie recipes start off with melting chocolate and butter together until it’s smooth and glossy. This one defies all the odds of a traditional chocolate brownie and still manages to secure herself (yes my brownie is a woman) a position on the Brownie Hall Of Fame with no chocolate. Yes there is no chocolate in this recipe; we use cocoa powder all the way.

The recipe starts off with a familiar tone of heating butter but this time with brown sugar, white sugar and cocoa powder. It is amazing how the chocolate flavor intensifies once heated, this process is also known as blooming of cocoa powder. The entire batter in made in the sauce pot and with addition of a whisk does help however, a simple wooden spoon or dinner fork works well also.

With a few pantry ingredients and little equipment this recipe is great to whip up during the week and it is superb to make ahead of time as they keep well at room temperature for close to 5 days and stores well in the freezer for up to 1 month in air tight containers or zip lock bags.

A few Substitutes:

Cocoa powder – Try to use the best cocoa powder you can as the amount of cocoa powder in this recipe is huge so what you taste is what you put in.

Eggless – If you make these brownies eggless the texture wont entirely be same but they will still be heavenly. Use ¼ cup of yogurt for 1 egg.

Gluten free – You can use any gluten free mix or almond flour to make these brownies and they are divine.

Vegan – You can replace the eggs with 3 flaxseed eggs and the butter with any vegan butter.

Sugar – If you don’t have both the sugars use whichever one you have. If you are using a sugar substitute be mindful of the sweetness, as they are sweeter than regular sugar.

Baking:

Do not over bake the brownies as they continue cooking through the cooling process. You can make these in the microwave under the convection setting. If your microwave doesn’t have a convection setting you could use the regular heating but keep in mind the cooking time will reduce by half, hence you will bake the brownie for 12-15 mins until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

The other fantastic thing about these brownies is that they are travel friendly and don’t get damaged easily as that crunch on the outside acts like a shield protecting the fudge interior. I think I have given you all the reasons to bake this brownie and don’t think you need any more so Happy Baking!

Weeknight Cocoa Brownies

annikapanikker
This brownie is magical. Not just because of the fact it’s a brownie but because it is crunchy on the top, fudgy in the middle with bits of moist cake like crumbs and intensely flavored with chocolate.
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Prep Time 15 mins
Baking Time: 25 mins
Course Dessert, Sweet tooth
Cuisine American
Servings 8 squares

Equipment

  • Medium saucepot
  • Whisk/Wooden spatula
  • Spoon
  • Baking tin (8x4 inches)

Ingredients
  

  • 120 gm Butter
  • 20 gm Oil
  • 125 gm Castor sugar
  • 125 gm Brown sugar
  • 100 gm Cocoa powder
  • 15 gm Instant coffee powder
  • 2 Nos Eggs
  • 60 gm Flour
  • 5 gm Vanilla
  • 1 Pinch of Salt
  • 80 gm Walnuts (roughly chopped)

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 170°C and line a 8x4 inch loaf tin with oil and baking paper.
  • In a medium saucepot heat the butter and oil on a low flame. Add the sugars, coffee, cocoa powder and whisk until combined. It wont be smooth but ensure there are no lumps.
  • Remove from the heat and let it cool for a couple of mins add the eggs one at a time beating well between each addition.
  • Add the flour, salt vanilla, walnuts and fold together mixing until smooth and combined. Do not over work the batter once the flour is incorporated and everything looks uniform stop mixing.
  • Pour the batter into the prepare tin and smooth it out with a spoon or spatula. Bake for 23-25mins until the top has risen, it’s dry to touch and a toothpick inserted comes out with moist crumbs.
  • Leave to cool in the tin for 30 mins, remove and cut into squares.

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