My Favourite Brownies in the World!

Preheat the oven to 180ºC (355ºF) and line a square cake tin (I used 20x20cm one).

Break the chocolate up and place it into a glass or microwave proof bowl. Add the butter to the same bowl. Place the chocolate and butter in the microwave and heat for 30 seconds, stir and repeat, then go down to 10 seconds when it’s almost melted. Repeat this until the mixture is entirely melted and then place to one side to cool. If you prefer, you can heat a saucepan of water, making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water, and heat until everything is melted.

In a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer, place the sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. Mix until light and smooth.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt together. Add this into the sugar and egg mixture. Mix until well incorporated.

Now add the chocolate and butter mixture to your large bowl. I use a rubber spatula to make sure I get all of the chocolatey goodness out of the bowl! Put the mixer on low and mix until everything is combined. Don’t be tempted to overmix and you don’t need to turn the mixer on high.

Place the mixture into the tin. Bake for 22-25 minutes. A skewer should not come out clean, but with some crumbs still stuck to it. This is the key to a gooey brownie, not overcooking them! It should be lighter brown on top and a bit cracked, but when you put the skewer in, it comes out darker. Leave to cool in the tin for 20 minutes. Then take out and leave to cool on a wire rack completely.

When cooled, run a knife under the hot tap and then dry before slicing. By using a hot knife, you hopefully won’t get the brownies breaking up too much and sticking to the knife. Cut into 9 or 12. Will keep in an airtight container for about 3 days. (They also taste fabulous when they’re still a bit warm, if you can’t wait!)