Christmas Baking – Chocolate gingerbread brownies

With ginger, cinnamon and mixed spice filling the air, it’s really starting to smell like Christmas in my house as a result of this weekend’s baking. Aside from starting the gingerbread for some mini gingerbread houses (a future post), I also came across this recipe for gingerbread brownies that I had to try.

Not being a huge chocolate fan, brownies are usually too rich for me (although my fudgy chocolate and raspberry brownies are very popular with all the chocoholics I know). But I liked the idea of the added “Christmassy” spices and just had to try them. With the amount of chocolate in this recipe (both dark chocolate and cocoa), they were too much chocolate for me and I could only eat a small piece. But that is my issue, not the recipe’s. Besides, heading into Christmas time when most of us over indulge, only having a small piece of something is a good thing! They were very popular at work so, if you love chocolate brownies, why not give these a try instead of your usual brownie recipe at Christmas time? This would be great as a dessert warm with ice-cream too.

Chocolate Gingerbread Brownies

Use a 20cm to 22cm square slice/cake pan (note – original recipe stated 20cm however I used a 22cm tin which was fine).

 Ingredients

• 250g unsalted butter – chopped
• 200g dark chocolate – chopped (or small buttons)
• 4 eggs
• 330g brown sugar
• 200g plain flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½  teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon mixed spice (original recipe used nutmeg, but I prefer this)
• 35g cocoa
• Icing sugar to dust and melted chocolate to drizzle (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 150C fan forced (170C). Grease and line the tin with baking paper.
2. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Don’t let the water touch the bottom of the bowl. Remove once smooth and allow to cool slightly.
3. Meanwhile, sift the flour, spices, cocoa and baking powder together into a large bowl. Add the sugar and mix.
4. Once the chocolate mixture has cooled slightly, add the eggs to it one at a time, mixing well until combined before adding the next. I whisked each egg in a small bowl first before adding to the chocolate and butter mix so it combined easier.
5. Once you have added all the eggs to the chocolate, add this to the flour/sugar/spice and mix until combined. Pour into the tin, spread it evenly and then bake in the oven for 25 – 30 minutes until it is set and just starting to crack on the top.
6. Cool in the pan before removing and cutting into squares when cold. Top with sifted icing sugar and a drizzle of melted chocolate (optional – I just used the icing sugar, but if you want extra chocolate, you can add it).

The original recipe states it will store in an airtight container for up to a week. I usually store my brownies in the fridge and remove 30 minutes before serving.

Adapted from ABC Delicious magazine December 2013/January 2014 – Gingerbread Brownies(p112)