Chocolate Brownies & Coffee

Go straight to the Chocolate brownies recipe

Well yes, this is a page about yummy chocolate brownies but before I delve into the recipe I would like to admit something:

I LOVE food shopping, honest. I love my trips to supermarkets, open markets, farm shops and buy food and everything else needed in the kitchen. Expectedly so, I normally make a weekly shopping list but then ironically never look at it while shopping. I know exactly what we need and my shopping list is there - just in case :)

My favorite part is wiggling though fresh fruit or veg sections. I always buy organically grown fresh food for one very simple reason. By default organic food tastes much, much better. There are many studies suggesting that natural and organic food is much healthier than "normally" grown food (and I agree with that), but what counts for me is the better taste and deeper flavors. Fruit and veg must smell nicely and naturally, be of a normal size, color and freshness.

The truth is some supermarkets are less concerned about food they sell so you've got to be selective. But then again, I'm not an "organic junkie" buying organic matches and tea towels and what not. But hey, it does matter what you put in your mouth, you know.

My shopping always wraps up with another "enjoyable" habit and that's collecting store magazines and recipe leaflets. I'm just obsessed with this but some of them are true secret treasures! At home I have piles of those and they totally irritate my husband. He wants me to get rid of them but there is no chance this will ever happen... No way!

So, yummy chocolate brownies recipe which you can find here originates from one of my supermarket magazines. Actually, there was a recipe which I tested but I wasn't happy with the result so I made a few changes. I swapped vegetable oil for butter, reduced the amount of cocoa and yogurt, and added raspberries and vanilla to improve the taste. After many attempts I am really happy with the result now.

These yummy chocolate brownies have a dry crust, they are not too sweet, have a moist texture, rich cocoa taste and a wonderful and refreshing taste of raspberries. And they make a good combination with coffee too.

Chocolate brownies recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

- 3 large eggs
- 130g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 150g caster sugar
- 175g self raising flour
- 60g cocoa
- 90g organic raspberries (mash them into puree)
- 1tsp vanilla extract
- 150g plain probiotic yogurt
- 120g organic raspberries (whole)

Method - how to use chocolate brownies recipe:

- Preheat the oven to 170C fan/190C/375F/gas mark 5. Brush a 10inch cake pan (25cm) with oil and line the base with baking paper.
- Place the butter and sugar in the bowl and cream until pale and fluffy.
- Add 1tsp vanilla extract.
- Add 2 whole eggs + 1 egg yolk from the remaining large egg. Safe the egg whites from this egg.
- Gently mix together all the ingredients.
- Puree 90g of raspberries.
- Add raspberry mix and 150g of plain yogurt to egg & sugar mixture and mix together.
- Sift together 175g of self raising flour and 60g of cocoa and add it to raspberry-egg mixture. Stir well.
- Whisk the egg white and add it to the mixture. Gently stir it in.
- At the end add 120g of whole raspberries and gently fold them into the mixture.
- Spoon the chocolate brownies mixture into the pan and bake for 30 minutes. Start testing with a toothpick 5 minutes before the end of baking time. If the toothpick comes out with small amounts of sticky batter and small crumbles then chocolate brownies are baked. But if the toothpick comes out clean then they are probably over-baked.
- Cool the baked brownies for 5-10 minutes, then turn them out on a wire rack and remove baking paper.
- Cut them into squares and serve with your favorite cup of coffee. Store these yummy chocolate brownies in an airtight container.

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Method (step by step):

STEP 1:

Preheat the oven to to 170C fan/190C/375F/gas mark 5. Brush a 10inch cake pan (25cm) with oil and line the base with baking paper.

Place the butter and sugar in the bowl and cream together until pale and fluffy.

STEP 2:

Add 1tsp of vanilla extract.

STEP 3:

Add 2 whole large eggs + 1 egg yolk from the third egg. Safe the egg whites from this egg.

STEP 4:

Gently mix together all the ingredients.

STEP 5:

Puree 90g of raspberries.

STEP 6:

Add raspberry mix and 150g of plain yogurt to the egg & sugar mixture...

STEP 7:

...and mix together.

STEP 8:

Sift together 175g of self raising flour and 60g of cocoa. Add both to raspberry-egg-sugar mixture and stir well.

STEP 9:

Whisk egg whites from the third egg and add to the mixture. Gently stir in.

STEP 10:

At the end add 120g of whole raspberries and gently fold them into the mixture.

STEP 11:

Spoon the chocolate brownies mixture into the tin and bake for 30 minutes. Start testing them with a toothpick 5 minutes before the end of baking time. If the toothpick comes out still with a little batter and small crumbles on then chocolate brownies are baked. But if the toothpick comes out clean then the brownies are probably over-baked.

STEP 12:

Cool the baked brownies for 5-10 minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack and remove the baking paper.

STEP 13:

Cut them into squares and serve with your favourite cup of coffee. Store these yummy chocolate brownies in an airtight container.

Our coffee choice for chocolate brownies recipe:

Cappuccino

Espresso

Cafe latte

Turkish coffee

All coffees we tried these brownies with offered a good match. All kinds of black coffee show promising results but Turkish coffee fantastically neutralize the taste of raspberries to achieve a perfect match with chocolate. However, cafe latte brings all new flavors to these cookies awarding you with an almost milkshake like taste.

* all combinations have been tested with medium roast Arabica blend

Baking tips

For me timing makes the most challenging thing in this recipe. How long should these chocolate brownies be baked, I wondered after several attempts. They turned out dry a few times as I was obviously baking them for too long. I therefore strongly advise testing them with a toothpick 5 minutes before the end of an advised baking time, no matter which recipe you're using. If the toothpick comes out with some batter and small crumbles then brownies are baked. You see, you can easily be tempted to bake a bit longer and then they will simply turn out over-baked.

Good to know

Brownies are named after a dark brown color and not because they contain cocoa or chocolate. They are something in between cakes and cookies.
Chocolate brownies are among America's favorite bar or square cookies.
Raspberries are loaded with vitamins and cancer fighting antioxidants. Since cooking doesn't destroy these compounds raspberry brownies may also be beneficial to your health if eaten in moderation of course.

Buying organic food and benefits of organic food:

Definition of organic food: organic food is farmed without the use of pesticides, antibiotics or genetically modified organisms (source: www.pbs.org), organic foods are made in a way that limits or excludes the use of synthetic materials during production (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_food)
Benefits of organic food: In general organic food consumers believe that organic food has many benefits over non-organic food: better health (organic food doesn't contain artificial fertilizers, toxins, pesticides, so they don't affect human body), better taste (by default organic food tastes much better than non-organic), animal welfare (organic farm animals live a "non cage" life), environmental benefits (air, soil and waters are not exposed to chemical pollution), GM - free (genetically modified crops and ingredients are not allowed under organic standards).