Wednesday 15 July 2009

Chocolate Treats

Summer is usually the time where you create tasty treats to eat while relaxing in the back garden. I have chosen a selection of chocolate recipes with easy to follow instructions to make.

Chocolate Brownies (Courtesy of BBC Food)


Makes 20-24 Squares

275g plain chocolate
275g butter
85g pecans, broken into pieces
85g milk chocolate, cut into large chunks
85g white chocolate, cut into large chunks
175g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla essence
325g caster sugar


1. Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas3. Line a bake tin with lightly buttered greaseproof paper or foil.
2. Put the plain chocolate and butter in a large bowl, place over a pan of simmering water and allow to melt.
3. Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl and set aside. Remove the melted chocolate from the heat and stir in the sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla essence. Fold in the flour, nuts and chocolate.
4. Pour the chocolate mixture into the prepared cake tin. Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. The top should be firm but the inside should feel soft when cooked. Allow to cool in the tin. Remove the brownies from the tin and cut into squares.








Chocolate Chip Cookies (Courtesy of BBC Food Makes 12-15)




350g unsifted flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
225g butter
175g caster sugar
175g soft brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
350g dark or milk chocolate, crumbled

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt.
3. In another bowl, combine the butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract until creamy. Beat in the eggs. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate.
4. Split the pliable dough into two halves, rolling each out into sausage shapes, approximately 5cm/2in in diameter. Wrap them in cling film and transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.
5. When you are ready to bake the cookies, simply cut the log into slices 2cm/¾in thick and lay on a baking tray, widely spaced apart. Bake for 9-11 minutes.
6. Serve.

1 comment:

  1. Wow great recipes! I love how they don't have a lot of ingredients or fussy directions - perfect for me and my brain these days :)

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