When craving something heavy on the chocolate front, people usually gravitate towards a brownie. It's not quite like a cake in texture but not like a cookie either, and when made just right, it hits all the cravings in one sweep.
The sibling of the brownie, formerly known as the "blond brownie," is light in color because the recipe does not require cacao; instead, vanilla and usually brown sugar are used as a substitution. Adding chocolate chips, toffee chunks and nuts to the mix, in any combination that comes to mind really, adds additional texture, sealing the sweet deal.
No, as the name suggests, white chocolate brownies are heavy on white chocolate. Blondies on the other hand don't require chocolate unless you choose to throw in a few chips or chunks. The white chocolate is so sweet that some might prefer to not add the additional sugar, which is hard to do when baking blondies as the recipe relies on other things as a sweetener.
So let’s have a look at different ways to make these indulgent delicacies, some more chocolaty, some less, but all equally delicious.
When speaking of chocolate spreads certain names come to mind, one of them being Nutella. But here you can use any kind of spread you like. Personally, I like to use a dark chocolate kind because it's not as sweet as the other varieties and it adds a bitter note that I enjoy.
Ingredients
Instructions
Whisk together the eggs and sugar and don’t forget to add the pinch of salt as well. Once the mix is light and fluffy, add the chocolate spread and mix it a bit more. Add melted butter and the cacao powder to the mixture, making sure that no clumps of cacao are left. Add the remaining ingredients to the eggy mixture and stir until everything is incorporated. Line a tin of your choosing with some baking paper to make it easier to remove the baked goods (you can grease the pan and dust it with flour, but the wet and rather fatty texture will make it harder to get out in a piece).
First, bake this at 150 degrees Celsius (300 degrees Fahrenheit) for 20 minutes and then crank it up to 180 degrees for about 5 minutes. The brownie should rise a little at the edges but the middle should stay low. It most definitely shouldn’t bake through completely.
A good friend of mine said is always on the hunt for ways to make brownies without chocolate because sometimes it can be hard to find the right kind, and other times you're just too lazy to go to the shops. I absolutely love her recipe and its sheer simplicity. So here I am sharing it with you as well.
Ingredients
Instructions
Melt the butter then add the cacao and sugar into it. Continue mixing until the sugar has mostly dissolved. The butter should have come down to room temperature by then, making the addition of the eggs rather easy. Add the eggs one at a time while mixing quickly. Finally, add the flour, salt and vanilla extract, then mix it just enough so that the mixture becomes even.
Like the other recipe, line your tin with some baking paper and bake it at 170 degrees Celsius for 20-25 minutes at most. Do not let it bake for too long or it will get hard.
Until now, I have tried to make feature recipes in which nuts are optional; however, I am a sucker for almonds and they work so well in this recipe. Adding a sprinkling of salt on top is also a favorite finishing touch of mine. It might seem strange to add salt to a dessert, but trust me when I say that it will open a door to a new world of tastes you may not have considered before.
Ingredients
Instructions
Melt the butter and turn off the heat. Add the sugar and mix it until it is pretty much dissolved. Like with the previous recipe, add the eggs one by one and mix thoroughly. Then add the almond extract, salt and flour. Once everything is combined, pour the mix into your lined baking tin and sprinkle your sliced or chopped almonds over the top – if you are daring, now is the time to sprinkle the other half of the salt. Bake at about 170 degrees Celsius for about 30 minutes until the blondie is golden in color. This may take less time depending on your oven, so keep an eye on that.
