Halloween Special- Part 2!

Graveyard Brownies

Once again I had so much fun making these!! The recipe for the brownies is my own triple chocolate brownie recipe and I covered them with Betty Crocker chocolate buttercream icing. 

I then used biscuits painted with gel food colouring and decorated with writing icing for the tombstones. I used Asda own brand rich tea fingers and malted milks as I liked the sizes and shapes but feel free to use your own favourites. 

I used Halloween sprinkles from Asda for the path but you can use any Halloween sprinkles. You could also use chocolate buttons or any orange / black sweet. 

The dirt is made from blitzing oreos in a food processor, 

The white mice can be found in any supermarket and I just painted on their red eyes and black ears and tails with writing icing. 

I got the skeleton sweets in M&S and the fence is made from Quality street Match Makers but you can also use chocolate fingers.

I made the brownies in a tin foil tray I got in Lakeland. They are great because you can just leave them in there to decorate and serve. They're also very handy to transport. 

So what will you need?

Foil Tray 

Brownies (recipe here)

Chocolate Buttercream Icing 

 Biscuits for Tombstones

Gel Food Colouring in Grey / Black

Tubes of Writing Icing in Black / White / Red (I used Asda Own)

White Mice (I used Asda Own)

Skeleton Sweets (optional)

Oreos for Dirt (crushed)

Match Makers or Chocolate Fingers for Fence

Whatever you do just have fun with this.. be as creative and adventurous as you like but keep it spooky...!! If you don't have gel food colouring why not just use chocolate covered biscuits? Head down to your local supermarket and you'll see a huge range of Halloween sweets and pick your favorites for your graveyard. 

As always please share your bakes with me if you try them yourself. I hope you all have a spooky and fun Halloween!! 

Happy Baking, 

O x

Triple Chocolate Chewy Brownies

They are exactly as the title says: Triple Chocolate Chewy Brownies. My mouth is watering just writing that. I chose this recipe to be my first recipe post because they are by far my favourite thing to bake and not just because they are so so simple to make. It is because they taste so unbelievably good and you can easily add your own favourites to the recipe. I've added chocolate chunks and hazelnuts to this recipe and I know a friend of mine adds walnuts when she bakes them. Baking these brownies also fills the kitchen with the most amazing smell. Don't believe me? Why don't you try for yourself...

I always get all my ingredients prepared before I start any recipe. I cannot tell you the amount of times I have began baking something only to realise I have forgotten to weigh out an ingredient and then I panic and get all flustered. Not good! So weigh out all your ingredients and have them ready to just pop into the mix. 

If you would like to leave out the milk and white chocolate chunks and just have plain chocolate brownies that is completely up to you. I have done them both ways and both ways are still really yummy! 

I have been making these brownies for years now and have made them for many occasions and they are a big crowd pleaser. 

Ingredients 

(as shown above)

3 Eggs

325g Caster Sugar 

175g Butter 

130g Plain Flour 

200g Plain / Dark Chocolate 

100g Milk and White Chocolate Chunks mix (optional)

2 Tbsp Chopped Hazelnuts (optional)

Prepare

Preheat your oven to 170^oC / gas mark 3

Line a 12" x 8" x 2" baking tray with parchment paper

Method

  Begin by melting the chocolate and butter together over a Bain-Marie. A Bain-Marie is basically a fancy word for a hot water bath. Place a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. It is extremely important that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water as it will scald the chocolate and it will burn.

Once the butter and chocolate have melted you will be left with a glossy chocolaty mixture. Take this off the heat and gradually stir in the caster sugar and mix until well incorporated.

Now add in the flour. Once the flour has been well incorporated add the eggs and mix until you have a thick and gooey mix! Stir in your chocolate chunks and hazelnuts if you have decided to add them to your brownies.

Spoon the mixture into your lined baking tray. Try and ensure you have some parchment paper hanging over the edge of your baking tray as it makes it easier to grab and lift the brownies out of the tray when cooked.

Now, when I cooked the brownies this time I sprinkled the chocolate chunks on top thinking they would sink down into the mix. I would not recommend this as they only partially sunk into the brownie and unfortunately some of them burned at the tips from the heat of the oven. I have just added this picture because it looks so yummy!! Also a good example of the parchment paper coming out over the tray.

Bake your brownies in your preheated oven for about 30-35 minutes. When cooked the brownies will be flaky on top but soft in the centre. A cake tester or toothpick inserted into the centre of the brownie should return wet with crumbs. Be careful not to over cook as the edges will become hard and crunchy.

Remove the brownies from the baking tray and cool on a wire rack. When cooled  completely cut to size and sprinkle with icing sugar if desired. 

These brownies can be served cold but I have also served them warm as a desert with vanilla ice-cream or whipped cream. Just blast in the microwave for 15-20 seconds on full power. 

Check out that soft chewy centre...!!

As I mentioned in my welcome post, technology and me don't really mix and when I began preparing for this post I realised my camera had no battery! Case and Point! I took these photos with my phone and I have to say I really don't think they turned out too bad..!! 

Let me know if you try out this recipe and how it worked for you. You can also find me on Twitter and Instagram  so please don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.

Happy Baking!

O x