Mastering the Brownie

Brownies - MasterChef style.

This is the recipe adapted from Gary's Chocolate Gluttony - minus the additional gluttony, but I kept the chocolate sauce for good measure.  

I've halved the original recipe (not wanting to over-indulge considering all the trips to Max Brenner this week) Also not being a fan of dark chocolate, I substitued it with white chocolate and milk chocolate instead.

BROWNIES 

Makes roughly 14 slices. You can always double the recipe for more brownies.
125g melted butter
1 1/6 cup caster sugar
45g good quality cocoa powder
1/2 cup plain flour, sifted
1/4 tsp baking powder, sifted
2 eggs
1/2 cup roasted salted peanuts, chopped
1/2 cup equal parts of chopped white and milk chocolate

1. Preheat oven to 165°C. Line baking/slice tin with baking paper. Add melted butter and sugar to an electric mixer and mix on medium speed, add cocoa powder and mix until combined and has a gooey consistency. 
2. Add eggs one at a time, allowing each one to mix through before adding the next. Add in the sifted flour and baking powder with electric mixer on low speed, beating until well combined. Stir through peanuts and chocolate until combined.  
3. Pour into baking tin and smooth over the surface with a palette knife. Bake for about 30 minutes until firm at the edges but still a little soft in the middle. Leave to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

CHOCOLATE SAUCE
75ml water
1 tbs caster sugar 
100g couverture milk  chocolate, chopped

Place sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook until the sugar dissolves. Add chocolate, leave for about 10-20 seconds and then stir until chocolate melts. Pour into a bowl and reserve. 

These brownies are absolutely delicious - next time I make these I think I'll make the chocolate chunks a bit bigger and try substituting the peanuts with another type of nut like walnuts or macadamias. You can't fault the chocolate sauce and it's so easy to make!