Have you ever just suddenly wanted to bake brownies? Not necessarily eat them, just bake them? I was hit by one of those the other day and this seemed like an excellent opportunity to try out one of the easy brownie recipes published in one of last year's Cook's Country issues. They may not be quite as rich and decadent as my go-to Cherry-Almond Brownies, but they're pretty good. And the ability to quickly toss them together, only dirtying a single bowl, is certainly appealing as well. We made the hazelnut brownies this time around, but you could really experiment with all sorts of flavours.

Easy Hazelnut Brownies

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country February/March 2018

Ingredients

• 60g dark chocolate, chopped
• ½ c. + 2 Tbsp. boiling water
• ⅓ c. Dutched cocoa
• 2¼ c. sugar
• ½ c. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• ¼ c. unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 250g soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• ¼ tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• ⅓ c. toasted hazelnuts, chopped
• ⅓ c. chocolate-hazelnut spread

Directions

1. Pour boiling water over chocolate and whisk until melted.
2. Whisk in cocoa followed by sugar.
3. Stir in oil.
4. Mix in eggs and egg yolks, one at a time.
5. Add butter and vanilla.
6. Sift flour and salt over wet ingredients.
7. Mix until just combined.
8. Fold in hazelnuts.
9. Pour batter into greased and floured¹ 23x33cm (9x13") pan.
10. Dollop hazelnut spread over batter and swirl through with spatula or paring knife.
11. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 40-50 minutes.
12. Let cool completely before cutting.

Variations

Chocolate Chunk Brownies

Ingredients

• 60g dark chocolate, chopped
• ½ C + 2 Tbsp. boiling water
• ⅓ C Dutched cocoa
• 2½ C sugar
• ½ C + 2 tbsp canola (or other neutral) oil
• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 250g soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• ¼ tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 170g bittersweet chocolate, cut into 1cm chunks

Stir chocolate into batter just before baking.

Chocolate Mint Brownies

Ingredients

• 60g dark chocolate, chopped
• ½ C + 2 Tbsp. boiling water
• ⅓ C Dutched cocoa
• 2½ C sugar
• ½ C + 2 tbsp canola (or other neutral) oil
• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 250g soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• ¼ tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 113g + 52g Andes mints, cut into 1cm pieces.

Stir 113g of the mints into the batter, and top with the remainder, just before baking.

White Chocolate Raspberry Brownies

Ingredients

• 60g dark chocolate, chopped
• ½ C + 2 Tbsp. boiling water
• ⅓ C Dutched cocoa
• 2½ C sugar
• ½ C + 2 tbsp canola (or other neutral) oil
• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 250g soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• ¼ tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 C white chocolate chips
• ⅓ C raspberry jam or 1 C fresh raspberries

Stir white chocolate into batter. Dollop jam or raspberries overtop before baking and swirl in with spatula.

[ToxicFrog comments: the kidlet and I really enjoyed these. symbol did not.]

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Brownies

Ingredients

• 60g dark chocolate, chopped
• ½ C + 2 Tbsp. boiling water
• ⅓ C Dutched cocoa
• 2½ C sugar
• ½ C + 2 tbsp canola (or other neutral) oil
• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 250g soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• ¼ tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 C peanut butter chips
• ½ C marshmallow crème

Stir peanut butter chips into batter. Swirl in marshmallow.

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¹ Greasing and flouring works just fine but may leave some white flour visible against the dark brownies. If you're concerned about aesthetics, "flour" your pan with cocoa. ^Back