Mince Pie Brownies
PREP 35 mins
COOK 30 mins
MAKES 16 brownies
Ingredients
- 185g unsalted butter, cubed
- 185g high-quality dark chocolate, chopped
- 85g plain flour
- 40g cocoa powder
- 3 large free-range eggs
- 275g raw caster sugar
- 6 mince pies or 9-12 mini mince pies
- Icing sugar, for dusting
Method
- Melt the butter and chocolate in a medium bowl, either in a microwave for 1 minute on high/100%, then stirring and continuing to heat in 20-second blasts, or by setting the bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally. Once melted, leave the mixture to cool.
- Heat the oven to 160°C fanforced (180°C conventional). Line the base of a shallow 20cm square tin with non-stick baking paper. Sieve the flour and cocoa into a medium bowl. In another bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer on maximum speed for 3 minutes or until thick and creamy, when the mixture runs off the beaters and leaves a trail for a second or two.
- Pour chocolate mix into egg mix, then fold together with a rubber spatula in a figure of 8, moving the bowl around until the mixture is a mottled dark brown. Be gentle so you don’t knock out the air.
- Sift in the cocoa and flour mixture and continue gently folding. The mixture will look dry and dusty, then fudgy. Stop just before you feel you should, as you don’t want to over-mix it.
- Spoon a little mixture into the prepared tin, then add the mince pies, leaving them whole. Scrape over the rest of the mixture, gently easing it between and over the pies. Level the top. Put in the oven for 25 minutes. If the brownie is very wobbly in the middle, it’s not quite done, so bake for another 5 minutes or until the top has a shiny, papery crust and the sides are just beginning to come away from the tin. Take out of the oven and leave to cool in the tin. Dust with icing sugar. Cut into quarters, then cut each quarter into four squares. Will keep in an airtight container for a week and in the freezer for up to a month.
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