← Nouns Cooking · Bakery

Ingredients

• 185 g unsalted butter, cubed
• 185 g dark chocolate (about 70% cocoa), chopped
• 3 large eggs
• 275 g caster (superfine) sugar
• 85 g plain flour
• 40 g cocoa powder
• ¼ tsp Salt
• 100 g white or milk chocolate chunks (optional)

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan, 350°F). Line a 20 cm square tin with baking paper.
2. Melt the butter and dark chocolate together over low heat (or in a bowl over simmering water), stirring until smooth. Leave to cool for 10 min.
3. Whisk the eggs and sugar with an electric whisk for 3–4 min, until thick, pale and doubled in volume. This is what gives the crackly top.
4. Pour in the chocolate mixture and fold it through gently. Sift over the flour, cocoa and salt and fold again until just combined, then fold in the chocolate chunks if using.
5. Scrape into the tin and level. Bake for 25–30 min, until the top is shiny and set with a slight wobble in the middle; a skewer should come out with moist, sticky crumbs.
6. Leave to cool completely in the tin, about 1 hour, before lifting out and cutting into 16 squares.

Tips

• Overbaking is the enemy: brownies keep cooking as they cool, so take them out while the centre is still soft.
• For the neatest squares, chill the cooled slab for 30 min and cut with a hot knife.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

BBC Good Food BBC Good Food King Arthur Baking