So, am I the only one who’s already been in the Christmas spirit for a couple of weeks now? Probably.
I never grow up. As soon as it nears the end of November, I want to start listening to Christmas tunes and thinking about mulled wine and sparkly dresses. It didn’t help that we celebrated our Thanksgiving a week earlier than everybody else because we were travelling on the actual day of Thanksgiving.
I should point out here that no, I’m not American, but my boyfriend is, and I can basically get on board with any holiday that involves copious amounts of eating. Therefore I am a new adopter of the Thanksgiving holiday. Although it does tend to involve me sweating over an oven all day. Sigh.
Oh, and did I mention that I don’t like turkey? Yeah, that one always used to throw my Mum for a loop at Christmas time. Cut to me at age eight, eating my own roast chicken while the rest of the family ate turkey. Despite numerous (and I mean numerous) attempts to enjoy the big feathered bird (as in turkey, not Big Bird, I’m not that cruel), I just can’t. It will always seem dry and bitter to me. Hey ho. As long as I still get to indulge in all of the trimmings, I’m a happy girl.
Despite eating our body weight in seasonal stuffing and other delicious foods (including a whole gingerbread house, check out my attempt on Instagram), I still wanted to bake something chocolatey. Which was where these brownies came in.
Remember those leftover caramels you had from making the speculaas cookies? (What do you mean, you ate them all?), well we’re going to use those to create a wonderful caramelly goodness on the top of these already ridiculously fudgy brownies.
Seriously, these are the fudgiest and soft brownies I’ve ever eaten in my life. Ever. And I’ve eaten a lot of brownies.
In fact, while we’re on the subject, there’s nothing that grinds my gears more than a dry, crumbly cookie. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
So anyway, if you’re not too full from over-indulging like me, then maybe you can try baking these caramel-topped double chocolate brownies, which I am now forever naming The Fudgiest Brownies Ever TM (patent pending).
{The Fudgiest Ever} Caramel-Swirled Double Chocolate Brownies
9
servings25
minutes30
minutesIngredients
6 1/2 tbsp (85g) coconut oil, softened
1/2 cup (100g) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
6.5 oz (185g) quality dark chocolate, broken into pieces
2/3 cup (85g) plain flour
3/8 cup (40g) cocoa powder
13.5 oz (100g) white chocolate, chopped into small chunks (chocolate chips can also be substituted)
3 large eggs
1 1/3 cups (275g) golden caster sugar
5 caramel toffees
5 caramel toffees
Directions
- Place the coconut oil, butter and dark chocolate into a bowl over a small pan of simmering water and stir occasionally until melted and combined (making sure that the bowl never touches the water). Remove the bowl from the pan and leave to cool to room temperature.
- Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 160C / 315F and line a 20x20cm baking tin with baking paper.
- Sieve the flour and the cocoa powder into a mixing bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and the caster sugar until it takes on the consistency of a thick milkshake. It will take a while for the mixture to thicken like this, so just be patient. The mixture will pale in colour and if you can see a trail of the mixture left behind from the beaters as they move, then it is the correct consistency.
- Pour the cooled dark chocolate mixture into this egg/sugar mousse and carefully combine with a spatula. Fold the mixtures into each other slowly – you want to trap as much air as possible to create the fudgy, light effect. Fold the mixture from the bottom of the bowl upwards and repeat until everything is combined. Always err on the side of caution and don;t use a mixer to do this or it will be too dense.
- Gently fold in the sieved flour and cocoa powder, using the same gentle method as before. Finally, tip in the white chocolate chunks and fold carefully one final time.
- Tip the batter into the prepared baking tray and wiggle the tray to even out the top of the mixture.
- Place the toffees and milk into a small saucepan over a low heat until melted. Be sure to stir occasionally and keep an eye on it so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Carefully pour the caramel over the top of the brownie batter in a swirled formation. You can even use a small toothpick to help swirl the caramel into the top of the brownie, but be careful not to lose too much of air you worked so hard to create.
- Bake the brownie for 30 minutes until slightly firm but not hard (if the top is still wobbly, put it back in for 5 minutes but no more). The top should have a shiny crust.
- Allow to cool completely, remove from the baking tin and cut into squares.
Leave a Reply