The Ultimate Brownie Recipe

I'm a tough crowd when it comes to brownies. They have to be extremely chocolatey, moist, squidgy and rich, or what's the point? Shop-bought brownies are usually dry, heavy and disappointing, and many homemade ones are just as bad. I had never baked brownies before as I'd eaten so many rubbish ones that I thought it was inevitable that they turned out dry and flavourless unless you added huge amounts of oil. Then I discovered that there was a secret ingredient you could add to your brownie mixture in place of oil. It retained the rich, moist texture oil provides while also lightening the calories and fat:

I located a few mayo-brownie recipes online but all used full-fat mayonnaise. I only had Hellmann's Light in the fridge so tried that and it worked just fine, plus, it lightened the calories and fat even further. By the way, did you know Hellmann's only use free-range eggs in their mayo and have done for the past few years?

These brownies are among the best I've ever tasted. If you like your brownies rich, gooey, dense and chocolatey, this is the recipe for you!

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Ultimate Brownie Recipe, adapted from this one

Ingredients

Makes 24 brownie bites or 12 large brownies

• 85g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken into small pieces
• 85g plain flour
• 25g cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 100g caster sugar
• 40g light muscovado sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 medium free-range egg
• 2 tbsp buttermilk (I made my own substitute with semi-skimmed milk and a squirt of lemon juice)
• 100g light mayonnaise
• Handful of chocolate chips (optional)

Method

1. Heat oven to Gas Mark 4/180C. Melt the chopped chocolate in a large bowl over a pan of hot water, stirring occasionally and being careful not to over-heat as the chocolate will go gritty. Once it's melted, leave it to cool slightly.

2. Line the base of a square cake tin with baking parchment  and lightly grease the sides. Add the caster and muscovado sugars to the melted chocolate and stir in with a wooden spoon. Add the vanilla extract and buttermilk and one tablespoon of warm water. Beat in the egg then gently stir in the mayonnaise. Finally, add the flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda. Gently fold in until well combined. Add the chocolate chips if using and gently stir in.

3. Pour the mixture into the tin, gently spreading it into the corners. Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean with a few chocolatey crumbs stuck to it.

4. Leave to cool then tip out onto a large plate and slice into the desired number of squares. The brownies will keep for three days in an airtight container...if they last that long.

Jenny
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