Everyday Brownies

From Nigella Kitchen

Recipe
Makes 16 brownies
Ingredients

• 150g unsalted butter
• 300g light brown muscovado sugar
• 75g cocoa powder, sifted
• 150g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• Pinch of salt
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Approx. 150g milk chocolate, chopped into small nuggety chunks
• Icing sugar, to dust (optional)
• 1 x 25cm square x 5cm deep foil- lined baking tin or 1 foil tray, approx. 30 x 20 x 5cm

(picture is my own)

Method

1. 1Preheat the oven to 190°c/gas mark 5. Melt the butter over a gentle heat in a medium-sized saucepan.
2. 2When it’s melted, add the sugar, stirring with a wooden spoon (still over a low heat) to help it blend with the melted butter.
3. 3Sift together the cocoa powder, flour, bicarb and pinch of salt, and then stir into the pan; when mixed (this will be a very dry mixture, and not wholly blended at this stage), remove from the heat.
4. 4In a bowl or jug, whisk the eggs with the vanilla extract and then mix into the brownie mixture in the pan.
5. 5Stir in the chopped chocolate and quickly pour and scrape into a foil-lined baking tin or throwaway foil container, spreading the mixture with a spatula, and cook in the preheated oven for approx. 20–25 minutes. It will look set, dark and dry on top, but when you feel the surface, you will sense it is still wibbly underneath and a cake tester will come out gungy. This is desirable.
6. 6Transfer the tin to a rack to cool a little before cutting into 16 and dusting with icing sugar. I love these gorgeously warm. But then again, I love them cold, too. Actually, when cold they are properly speaking more brownie-like: gooily tender within and moreishly chewy on top.

Alternate recipe with substitutions:

If you are out of light brown sugar and chocolate, then use 1 1/2 cups regular white sugar and up the butter to 1 1/2 cups, and cocoa to 1 cup.

Comments
1) The size of pan is very important! My pan was a bit smaller than recommended so after the full 25 minutes, the sides were perfect - crunchy outside and fudgey inside. But the middle of the pan was horrible. The top had set but inside was totally runny! I need a bigger pan so that the mix spreads thinner and thus dries out faster.