Easiest chocolate brownies ever

The chocolate gingerbread turned out so well that it got me talking to colleagues about it. A promise was soon extracted from me to supply something along the same lines for Monday morning tea as well as a recipe for chocolate cheese cake. The recipe was duly copied and stuffed in my diary, and then I recalled promise number two and set to work.

Polly, a super talented and creative friend of ours, emailed me her recipe for chocolate brownies, assuring me it was delicious and no-fail. Well she was right. It did not fail. It turned out great. What failed was me. 

I must have had some kind of brain explosion during the making of these brownies. First I found I didn't have enough walnuts. Not fatal. I toasted some almonds to make up the difference. Then I was slightly short on chocolate. OK again since Polly and others had given me, sorry, us, a 1kg bag of Lindt as a wedding gift. I didn't want to open it just yet since I know it could lead to surreptitious depletion by Tim while I'm away this week, but I had to take the risk. Next, the batteries in my scales died. I removed batteries from something else and used them. I then managed to fling half the flour onto the floor because I  very un-cleverly added it to the mix while the whole thing was whizzing on high speed. Finally, I managed to get the gooey mixture all over me, several pieces of equipment, fresh fruit, the clock and the dog. [To explain about the dog, normally I leave her outside while cooking because she tends to get under-foot, hoping for a tidbit. On this occasion, I let her in to lick up the flour off the floor - I couldn't find the mop and Tim was out. Anyway, she was still hanging around when things went further awry. When Tim got home I bribed him with a brownie to bath her. Neither party were amused.]

The point is, despite my uncharacteristic clumsiness and lack of attention to detail (like chucking things in the mixer in my own order), this recipe worked really well. I didn't ice it as I found it suitably sweet, but if this isn't enough sugar for you, knock yourself out. Thanks Polly -  this one's a winner!

Ingredients:

200g dark chocolate

175g butter

2 eggs

230g soft brown sugar

125g plain flour (I used spelt - I was NOT going to be denied brownies!)

40g good quality cocoa

100g walnuts

100g extra chocolate if you want it especially rich

Melt the butter and chocolate in the pan and then leave to cool slightly. Beat the eggs and sugar until pale and thick. Fold in the cooled chocolate mixture. Mix in the sifted flour and cocoa and then fold through the nuts and optional extra chocolate. 

Pour the mixture into a pan or tin (I used a lamington tin) and bake for 20 - 30 minutes at 180º C. Test at 20 minutes. 

If you want to ice it, Polly's recommended icing mix consists of 200g dark chocolate, (melted and cooled), 125g sour cream and 30g icing sugar. Mix the whole lot together, spread on the brownies in the tin and refrigerate overnight.