Espresso Brownies

Some days call for coffee and some for chocolate. Some days, however, call for both. At the same time.

This week has been insanely busy. Miss P back at preschool after half term, dashing in to town to collect my new glasses, deliveries, the shift over to a big girl bed which included dismantling the cot and building a bed, a deadline to meet and all the normal stuff that pops up as you go along. As I haven’t been feeling my best I’m glad to see Friday but boy, I’m tired.

They say if you need something doing then ask a busy person and there’s a lot of truth in that, it’s just sometimes that busy person needs a bit of a helping hand. I have an ongoing love affair with coffee, I’m not snobbish about it and though I love a decent cup of the proper stuff, I’m happy to drink a mug of instant. I also adore coffee and chocolate together, I’m that person who takes delivery of everyone else’s left over coffee creams once the Christmas chocs have been demolished.

So, to try and fit my caffeine and chocolate intake into my overloaded schedule this week I figured it would be best to combine the two. In a brownie. I’d also read a tip from someone, somewhere – brain like a sieve these days, if it was you then please shout. Though it was just as likely to be in a magazine – that if you bang the tray of brownie batter on the side before you pop it in the oven, it helps to create lovely gooey brownies. And it works. A bad brownie is a very sad state of affairs indeed.

The amount of coffee here isn’t overpowering, they give more a mellow aftertaste that lingers for a while.

Espresso Brownies

Makes approx 15 brownies, depending on how generous you are when cutting them.

180g butter

200g dark chocolate

1 ½ tablespoons instant espresso

75g plain flour

50g cocoa powder

½ tsp baking powder

220g light brown sugar

3 large eggs, beaten

 

Preheat the oven to 180c fan/gas 4 and line a tray with greaseproof paper – the one I use is approx 12 by 8 inches.

Melt the butter and chocolate together. I tend to use the microwave, checking and stirring every 30 seconds, or melt in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, making sure that the bowl does not touch the water.

Once it has melted and is smooth, stir in the instant espresso and set to one side to cool slightly.

In another bowl combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and cocoa. Add the beaten eggs and the chocolate mixture. Stir until combined.

Pour into the prepared tray and bake for 30/35 minutes until just firm. A slight wobble in the middle is fine and the top will look cracked.

Leave to cool in the tray for 10 minutes and then finish cooling on a wire rack.

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I’m linking this up to Mrs M’s Recipe Link Party

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About Sian Reynolds

I'm Sian, mother to a three year old who thinks she’s a teenager and a husband who has issues with cows. Both have insatiable appetites and are rather fond of cake. And chocolate. And cheese. Freelance this and that, coffee drinker, food blogger. I seem to spend most of my time in the kitchen, with one eye on the laptop and the other watching the toddler run around with a colander on her head.

24. February 2012 by Sian Reynolds
Categories: Cake, muffins and brownies | Tags: , , , | 6 comments

  • http://www.cookingcakesandchildren.com/ Amy

    Yum, they look sooooooo good :-)

    • http://fishfingersfortea.co.uk/ Fishfingers for tea

      Thanks Amy :-) They are lovely and I’m having to resist Rich’s request for more as they seem to disappear slightly too quickly!! 

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  • Pottyandcake Emma Quarmby

    I’ll fight you for the Christmas chocolate coffee creams. I polish those off too. This recipe – along with most of the others containing that winning combination look amazing!!

    • http://fishfingersfortea.co.uk/ Fishfingers for tea

      Thank you very much! I have no idea why the coffee creams are so unliked, I think they’re one of the best!