Chocolate Brownie

This Chocolate Date Brownie recipe, by Annabel Langbein is one of my all time favourite brownie  recipe -gooey, sticky, moist, . The dates make all the difference.I just made these, and served them with whipped cream and strawberries. One colleague ate three slices. I’ll definitely make them again.

• 2 cups chopped dates
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ¾ cup boiling water
• 200g / 6½ oz finely diced butter, at room temperature
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups caster sugar / superfine sugar
• 1 cup dark cocoa, sifted
• 1 cup flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 250g / 8 oz dark chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 160°C / 325°F and line a 30cm x 24cm / 12 inch x 9 inch slice tin with baking paper.

Put dates in a large bowl, add baking soda and boiling water and stir to combine. Add finely diced butter and stir until melted. Leave to stand for 20 minutes.

Mash softened dates with a fork to break them up to a creamy consistency. Stir in the eggs and vanilla until well combined. Stir in the sugar, then add the cocoa, flour and baking powder and stir until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips or chunks.

Spread batter into prepared pan, smoothing with the back of a spoon.Bake for 50 minutes, or until edges are set . Cool before cutting into squares. Stored in a sealed container it will keep for a couple of weeks.

Tagged: butter, coca powder, dark chocolate, dates, plain flour, sugar