Almond and Hazelnut Chocolate Brownies
Almond and Hazelnut Chocolate Brownies Recipe
Ingredients (make 20 brownie pieces)
200g diced butter*
200g chopped dark chocolate**
200g caster sugar
4 eggs
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
3 heaped tablespoons almond meal
50g roughly chopped hazelnuts
50g almond butter
1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC (160ºC fan).
Line a shallow baking tray or tin (35cm x 25cm and at least 2cm deep) with greaseproof baking paper.
2. Put the chopped dark chocolate and diced butter in a large heatproof baking bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (the water should not touch the bowl so make sure the bowl is larger than the saucepan). Leave on a low heat until the chocolate and butter have melted and stir constantly to mix them together.
3. Take the bowl off the pan and stir in the caster sugar with a wooden spoon. Set aside for 5 minutes and add the eggs in one by one, mixing well after each until you have a glossy mixture.
Fold in the cocoa powder, almond meal and chopped hazelnuts.
4. Pour the batter into the lined baking tray or tin with a spatula and spread evenly. Dot the top with small dollops of almond butter and swirl them with a skewer (or a chopstick). Put on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. It should be crisp on the outside and set in the middle (insert a skewer or thin knife blade in the centre, it should come out clean).
5. Let the chocolate brownie to cool down in the tin or tray for 15 minutes before serving or afterwards, if like me you prefer a piece of cold fudge-like brownie, transfer with the baking paper onto a wire rack to cool down completely.
Cut the almond and hazelnut chocolate brownie into square pieces and serve warm with some delicious vanilla ice cream (and even - hello indulgence! - a drizzle of hot chocolate sauce). Those brownies are also wonderful served cold with tea and coffee.
Notes:
* You can use unsalted or salted butter for this recipe. I come from a region of France where we swear by salted butter (beurre demi-sel) in our cooking and even for baking cakes, so I used the salted version in this recipe.
** For really delicious brownies, I recommend choosing a good quality chocolate. My favourite and the one I used here is Lindt Dark Chocolate 70%.
Bon appétit!
