Day 9: Chocolate Walnut Brownies

Believe it or not, besides my deep love for chocolate, i've never attempted to make chocolate brownies. I must say, they were fun to make! It fairly easy. The only problem was finding all the ingredients to make it.  It was a bit of a spur of the moment- chocolate craving that made me choose brownies for todays challenge. The first recipe I came across in 'Women's weekly' cook book which must have been about 20 years old sitting in our collection at home- it looked good, the only problem was I didn't have macadamia's, so i'll have to try that one another time. The recipe I tried out was from the 'Good Taste collection-baking'. 

Pretty much the best thing about cooking anything chocolatey- the smell it leaves in your house...mmm mmm.

Here's the recipe:

Makes 16 

-Melted butter, for greasing

-150g walnut halves

-200g good-quality dark cooking chocolate, chopped

-200g (1 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar 

-125ml (1/2 cup) vegetable oil

-3 eggs, at room temperature

- 1 tsp vanilla essence

-75g (1/2 cup) plain flour

-30g (1/4 cup) cocoa powder

-1/2 tsp baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 170degrees Celsius. Using a shallow, square 22cm cake pan, brush over pan with melted butter to lightly grease. Line the base of the pan with non-stick baking paper.

2. Spread the walnuts on a baking tray and cook in oven for 5-7minutes until lightly browned. Transfer to a board, cool and chop into little bits

3. Meanwhile, place the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and set aside

4.  Combine sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla essence in a medium mixing bowl. Use electric beaters to beat until well combined and a pale colour. Add the melted chocolate and mix until well combine

5. Sift flour, cocoa and baking powder together over the chocolate mixture. Use a large metal spoon to fold in until combined. Mix in the walnuts too.

6. Spoon mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top over. Bake in preheated oven for 35minutes or until moist crumbs cling to a skewer inserted into the centre. Remove the pan from oven and set aside until completely cooled. Turn onto a board and cut into squares.

Pretty easy aye? Mine turned out a little bit flat because there was no baking soda in the house- lesson learnt... always check recipe before starting! They tasted delicious- very nutty, in a good way.