Has anyone else completely lost track of what time/day/month it is? I feel like all the days have merged into one. My mum turned to me this morning and said “I think it’s Easter soon.” And I was horrified when I realised, “Yes it is. It’s in a week!”
I LOVE Easter baking, although that’s probably because I have an unhealthy obsession with Mini Eggs. Aaaaaaah Mini Eggs, man! Any excuse for me to put them in a recipe and those bad boys are in there.
I have two main go-to recipes at Easter. The first one is the Cheesecake Filled Easter Eggs I posted a couple of years ago. The second one is for these Ultimate Easter Brownies. Now I’m going to be completely honest; the amount of chocolate that is in this recipe is so obscene, it should be illegal. But hey, who would want it any other way?
Are you ready for this chocolate-filled taste sensation?
Let’s do this…
You Will Need
- 185g Unsalted Butter
- 185g Dark Chocolate
- 85g Plain Flour
- 40g Cocoa Powder
- 3 Large Eggs
- 275g Golden Caster Sugar (I’ve used regular caster sugar this time around. Shops are empty)
- 2 Bars White Chocolate
- 1 Bar Milk Chocolate
- Large Bag of Mini Eggs
- 5 Creme Eggs (for the top)
- Small Bag of Mini Creme Eggs
- Electric or Regular Whisk
- Glass Bowl
- Large Bowl
- Medium Bowl
- 20cm Square Baking Tin
- Baking Parchment
- Wooden Spoon
- Medium Saucepan
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180˚C/160˚C fan
- Grease and line a 20cm tin with butter and baking parchment. I like to line the tin with two separate pieces. One going from top to bottom, one from left to right, making sure the parchment comes out of and hangs over the sides of the tin. This makes it so much easier to take them out of the tin when they’re done.
- Okay, first let’s deal with all this chocolate. Cut the bar of milk chocolate and one bar of white chocolate into bite-sized pieces. Cut up your Easter chocolate but make sure you leave the large Creme Eggs and a handful of Mini Eggs to decorate the top of your brownies.
I can guarantee that a lot of this was consumed before it had chance to go in the mix.
- Pop the chocolate in a bowl and put to one side.
**Obviously, things are a bit mad in the supermarkets right now. So don’t worry if you can’t get as much chocolate as this. Well actually, even when things go back to normal, feel free to use as much/little chocolate as you like. I just love chocolate so for me, the more the merrier!**
- Break up the dark chocolate and place with the butter in the glass bowl. Fill a saucepan about a quarter-full of hot water and pop the glass bowl on top of it, (this is called a bain-marie if you’re feeling particularly fancy). Make sure the bowl is resting above and doesn’t touch the water. Keep it on a low heat and stir the butter and chocolate together until it has melted and all mixed. Leave to one side to cool.
**Alternatively you could put the chocolate and butter in a bowl and melt it in the microwave. Make sure it’s on a low heat and microwave in short bursts, stirring it after each time.**
- Crack your eggs into a separate large bowl and add the sugar. Use an electric whisk on the maximum speed to whisk it together until the mixture is completely smooth and creamy, kind of like a milkshake or pancake batter. It is absolutely doable if you only have a regular whisk, but it will take you quite a while. Power through and I will pray for you and your arms.
- The mix should also double in size and become slightly paler. This bit always takes me longer than I think it’s going to, like seriously, it takes a long time. I normally get to about 5 mins in and I think, “Oh yeah this looks like it’s done.” But nope, nada. Sorry my friend you’ve still got a bit of a way to go. Whack on some Lizzo, crank up the volume and have a solo dance off, (while keeping an eye on the mix of course). I timed it this time and it took me 8 mins. To check that it’s ready, lift the whisk out of the mixture and shake it from side to side, the mix that falls off the whisk should leave a trail for a second or two before disappearing.
- Once that’s done, pour the cooled melted butter and chocolate mix into the whipped sugar and eggs. Then gently, (and I mean geeeeently) fold the mixture together. You want to fold it in a figure of 8 making sure that you’re taking the spatula/spoon right to the bottom of the bowl and bringing it to the top. It’s really important to take your time. The last thing you want to do it to knock all the air out of the mixture - believe me, I’ve been there, I’ve lived it and it was tragic.
- Sieve the flour and cocoa into the wet ingredients and continue to fold the mixture using the same method as before. Honestly, I can’t stress enough how important it is to fold as gently as you can. At first it’ll look a bit dry and dusty and you might think, “Oh god, what have I done?!” But it’s all good. Keep at it, keep folding and soon your batter will turn lovely and fudgy.
- Add your chopped milk/white/easter chocolate to the mix and guess what?! You’re going to fold them into the mixture as gently as you frigging can!! (Yes, I know it’s annoying, but trust me it’s worth it.)
- Pour the mixture into your lined baking tin and smooth the top so it’s even.
- Melt your other bar of white chocolate, (I normally use the microwave on a low heat) and put spoonfuls of spaced out white chocolate over the brownie batter, then use a skewer/knife/finger to swirl the white chocolate together with the brownie batter.
- Bake in the oven for 20 mins
- While it’s baking, carefully cut the Creme Eggs in half and set aside. (This is so much harder than you think!)
- After 20 mins, take the brownies out of the oven, press the halved Creme Eggs on top, (with the fondant facing up) and scatter over half of your remaining Mini Eggs. Put back in the oven for another 20 mins.
- Take the brownies out of the oven and top with the remaining Mini Eggs. Leave to cool completely before putting them in the fridge for at least an hour to firm up.
**Look, when I say leave them to cool completely and then put them in the fridge, I genuinely mean leave them to cool completely and then put them in the fridge for at least an hour. Why am I saying this, you ask? Well, this bellend decided, “Ooh, it feels cool. I’ll just take it out of the tin to get some pictures,” and then while trying to cut into it, it all falls to pieces because I didn’t leave it to cool completely and put it into the fridge!! - Tit…**
- Take them out of the tin, slice and enjoy!!
And there you go. It’s been quite a while since I’ve made these brownies and honestly, I forgot how delicious they were. I’m pretty sure they’ll all be gone by the end of the day.
Thank you so much for reading this post, I hope you enjoyed it. As always please like, comment and subscribe yadda yadda yadda…
And if you do have a go at making these brownies, please share. I absolutely love seeing your creations.
Stay safe, check in with people and happy baking!
Love to you all.
L x
