Picnic weather & picnic goodies! :-)

Hello,

Well, finally picnic weather is here & let’s hope it stays! Wherever your favourite outdoor spot is in L.e. (and there are plenty to chose from!), one of the best ways to spend the sunny days is lazing in the sun (don’t forget the suncream…!) with some delicious goodies (and maybe some friends to help you share them….or maybe not)

So, for all your future picnics & BBQs this summer, I want to share the following recipe with you for chocolate brownies – which was passed on to me from a friend in England, in Hook Norton (or Hooky) to be precise, home of the famous Hook Norton Brewery and lots of great ‘ye olde English pubs’ in beautiful Oxfordshire.

So, less of my chat – here is the recipe….

Chocolate Brownie Recipe

By Emma Hughes

Ingredients:

250g Butter

500g Granulated sugar

75g Cocoa

3-4 eggs (3 large or 4 medium)

125g Self raising or plain flour (I use half and half or add large pinch of baking powder if use plain flour)

150g of either pecans, walnuts, raisins, cherries, chocolate chips etc..

(I use a mix of pecans, hazelnuts, chocolate and cherries) and at least 150g!

Grease and line (if not non-stick, or to be sure it will come out!) a meat tin approx 12” x 10” (2” deep) no larger as will go too thin, OK if smaller, but possibly cook for longer.

Method:

In a saucepan, melt the butter over a gentle heat until completely melted, remove from heat and stir in the cocoa until it has smooth consistency.

Place the sugar in a mixing bowl and beat in your eggs, beat with the sugar until fluffy.

Now add your butter & cocoa mix to the sugar and egg mixture, mix together well.

Fold in your flour and then add the nuts/choc etc.. mix well together.

Place the mixture into your greased/lined baking tin.

Cook in the oven on 160 – 170 C for a minimum of 35 minutes, it may look uncooked, difficult to explain, you will find it will vary depending on your oven etc.. but I usually end up cooking the brownies for up to 40 mins. The brownies should be gooey in the middle but cooked.

Remove from tray when cooled – onto a cooling rack, it cuts better when warm (not hot).

Serve with cream or ice cream or both! :-)