Do you ever get in the mood just to bake and then realise you don't have all the ingredients you need to make the thing you are craving and it's cold and late and you just can't face the shops? Well that was me a few nights ago. I was sitting at home after having a lovely dinner and thought some brownies would be a nice way to round off the evening. So I looked through my favourite book by The Hummingbird bakery to see what I would need to make their brownies. A really simple recipe with eggs, flour, chocolate, butter, and sugar, except I didn't have any eggs (the family had used them up that morning having poached eggs) and I hardly had any chocolate left thanks to already using some in another recipe. Urgh!
I didn't relish the idea of heading to the shops late in the evening so decided to look around my kitchen to see what I could substitute. What I made by tweaking the original recipe were very very soft, fudgey brownies with flaky tops. These were certainly softer, almost fudge like in texture, not the same as a traditional brownie, but the taste was sweet, chocolaty and moreish!
Oh so good!
You can order the Hummingbird bakery book here which holds the original recipe. My recipe is shown below adapted with different ingredients.
INGREDIENTS
75g Dark chocolate chips
125g Nutella chocolate spread (about 2 heaping tablespoons)
175g butter or spread
165g caster or granulated sugar
130g plain flour
1 or 2 ripe bananas depending on whether you mind a slight banana taste to your brownies
Handful of walnuts (optional)
Icing sugar to dust
METHOD
Preheat oven to 170'C (325'F) Gas Mark 3. I used a special brownie tin to make these but you can use a sheet pan and cut the brownies once cooked. I sprayed the pan with cake release spray before adding the mix.
Mash your bananas until they are very smooth with very little lumps. 2 bananas will give these brownies a banana taste, 1 I doubt you would be able to tell was in there. I used 2 and whilst the dominant taste is chocolate, there is a hint of the banana. I am not a huge fan of bananas but I did enjoy these. Make sure you use very ripe bananas that are easy to mash. Set aside.
Melt your chocolate chips, Nutella and butter in the microwave in 20-30 second bursts. Give the mix a stir to help melt the chips into the butter rather than melting completely in the microwave. I did 30 seconds, stired well, put back in for another 20 seconds, stired and was done.
Add the sugar to this mix and stir well until all incorporated. Next add the flour and incorporate completely. Finally, stir in the mashed bananas until the mixture is smooth and add any nuts if using.
Spread into a sheet pan or add to cavities until almost full. Bake for 30 minutes approx. The brownies should be flaky on top but will still be soft when a toothpick is inserted. Do not let them overcook, else the edges become dry and hard. These can be dusted with icing sugar if liked.
Little soft mouthful's of heaven!
Who could resist one of these with a cup of coffee to cheer themselves up on a dreary January afternoon? What's more they are an ideal bake to make with the children who can just go to town on mashing those bananas!
Enjoy your week!
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