These rich, fudgy brownies are a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, but if you’re looking to enjoy them with a lighter footprint, you can easily tweak the ingredients! Try these simple swaps below the recipe to boost the nutritional value while keeping all that chocolatey goodness.
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 10
Ingredients:
- 185g unsalted butter (cut into cubes and extra for greasing)
- 200g block of milk chocolate, broken into pieces
- 3 large eggs
- 275g caster sugar
- 85g plain flour
- 40g cocoa powder
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 3 fondant filled chocolate eggs 150g mini chocolate eggs
Chocolate icing:
- 1/2 cup icing sugar
- 2 tbs cocoa powder
- 2-3 tbs boiling water
Method:
- Heat oven to 180C/160C fan-forced. Meanwhile, grease a 20cm square tin with butter and line with 2 long strips of folded baking paper or foil.
- Place the butter and the chocolate in a medium-sized heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until melted. Alternatively, microwave at 30-second intervals until melted. Leave the melted chocolate mixture to cool to room temperature.
- Break the eggs into a large bowl and add the caster sugar. With an electric mixer on maximum speed, whisk the eggs and sugar for around 5-8 mins or until they look thick and creamy and have doubled in size.
- Pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the egg mixture, then gently fold together.
- Sieve the flour and cocoa into the wet ingredients then continue to fold the mixture gently with a spatula just until everything is fully combined. (Try not to over-mix)
- Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and carefully level the mixture with the spatula. Put in the middle of the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, cut the fondant filled eggs in half and set aside and crush a few of the mini eggs but leave some whole.
- In a small bowl sift the icing sugar and the cocoa together. Add boiling water and stir to a pouring consistency. Spread over the top of the cooked brownie. Arrange the fondant filled eggs on top and scatter over the mini eggs.
Tip
- Serve warm or place in the fridge for 1 hour to firm up.
- Decorate with little Easter chicks if you like.
Ways to make the recipe healthier
- Cut the Sugar: Reduce the caster sugar by up to a third, or swap it entirely for a natural, zero-calorie baking alternative like a monk fruit blend. Using 70% dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate will also slash the sugar content and add a great boost of antioxidants.
- Swap the Fat: Replace half (or all) of the butter with unsweetened applesauce, mashed avocado, or plain Greek yoghurt. This drastically lowers the saturated fat while keeping the brownies incredibly moist.
- Sneak in Fibre: Trade the plain flour for wholemeal flour, oat flour, or almond meal.
- Top Smart: If you want to skip the heavy sugar crash from the icing and fondant eggs, top your baked brownies with fresh raspberries, chopped walnuts, or just a simple, elegant dusting of cocoa powder.
This story was originally published on The Carousel.
