Chocolate Brownies of any description are pretty heavenly. Rich, moist and gooey! Eaten warm with ice-cream is always my favourite way to devour them! Brownies are often made with walnuts, but I want to give you a slightly different idea.Â
Almond and apricot chocolate brownies have all the gooey richness of a classic brownie, but they offer a different kind of sweetness and crunch. You can try experimenting with other fruit and nuts too. Any variation is good fun to make, and lip-smackingly tasty! Just be sure not to overcook your brownies, or they will be disappointingly dry.
Also, try this Go Free Chocolate Brownie recipe, which is gluten-free, wheat-free and dairy-free. Perfect for large groups with special dietary needs.
Ingredients:
Preparation Guidelines:
Note: If you want to serve some of the brownie hot and fresh, you can remove the part you want from the tray as soon as it is cooked, and serve it in bowls with ice-cream. To make it fruitier, try topping with bits of strawberries and apricots. It will fall apart and be ever-so gooey! Then you can leave the remainder of the cake to cool in the tray, to cut into servings and store.
Another idea for preparing it to eat hot, is to bake the brownie mix in smaller pots or ramekins to serve straight from the oven with cream and ice-cream. Or you could even pop a square of brownie in the microwave for a few seconds to warm it at any time. So many ways to eat a brownie! Yum!
Time: 20 mins preparation, 45 mins baking
Cocoa Treats: 18 squares
Continue readingFlapjacks are such a classic old favourite. They are also a great way to get the benefits of oats into children who can’t bring themselves to enjoy porridge. (If they do like it, try this wholesome oats recipe.) And let’s face it; we never really grow out of the comfort of a home-baked flapjack, even when we’re all grown-up.
Oats are a good source of some B vitamins, and also contain iron, calcium, magnesium and zinc, amongst other nutrients. The humble oat is packed with soluble fibre which is thought to help reduce high blood cholesterol levels. They also have a low GI (glycaemic index) so they are absorbed slowly into the blood stream, which helps to keep blood sugar levels stable. As you can see, oats offer some good health benefits for all age groups.
We have to admit here; however, that once those little oats are coated and doused in golden syrup, butter and sugar, that yes, they are rather full of calories. But as afternoon snacks go, you can be sure you’re getting some good energy and nutrition into your body too. And well, I couldn’t give you a flapjack recipe without including chocolate could I? So here’s how to make some very yummy choc chip flapjacks.
Ingredients:
Preparation Guidelines:
Time: 20 mins to prepare, plus cooling time. 20-30 mins to cook
Cocoa Treats: 20-24 pieces
Continue readingThis is the kind of pudding that takes me back to childhood. Those midweek nights of fish fingers and beans, when Mum filled the house with the wonderful smell of chocolate baking in the oven. She’d put the dish on the table on a big wicker mat and ladle out this chocolate pudding into our eagerly clutched bowls, as long as we’d polished off the whole of our first course…. of course!
We loved eating it hot with a dollop of choc chip ice cream. (Check out the recipe on my blog for this ice cream, as well as another chocolate pudding option chocolate fondant with cherries and vanilla anglaise.) This recipe serves 2-3 people, so just double up the quantities if you have a bigger family, or if you have friends coming round.
Ingredients:
Preparation Guidelines:
Time:Â Â 20 mins to prepare, 40 mins to cook
Cocoa Treats: 2-3 servings
Continue reading