Hazelnut and Chocolate Chip Brownies

I made these brownies on Christmas Day to bring into work, these were the ones I intended to make for the secret Santa party, but I had forgotten to actually bring the hazelnuts I had bought from my sisters house to mine.

These brownies were based off a recipe I originally read on the back of a Nestle Cocoa tin, my sister and I made them. I remember right off the bat, that the first time I made them they were great, crispy edge, soft gooey centre, dense chocolate crumb, it was gone within days. The second time we made it, it was slightly burnt, overly chewy and really good when microwaved and shoved into ice cream. I think I was the only one to eat the brownies that time. They were absolutely terrible and I've never made them since.

Brownies are wonderful things though and I've become a much better cook since then, so I toughened up and made some more. The salted caramel GF brownie I made was really good, so I thought I'd make this one too. I turned out well in a different way, this one had a chewy crust with a soft cakey centre. I'm still wondering if I should stick to traditional cooking times of 160C for an hour or so, I've been using 180C at 20-30 minutes for time constraints as well as sweltering heat considerations with a fan forced oven. Its not as crunchy a top, but I prefer my brownies more cakey. So here's my recipe.

Hazelnut and Chocolate Chip Brownies

Uses: soft gooey brownie with a crispy top

That box of chocolate is from the bakery my mum works at :)

Ingredients:
100g butter
100g sugar
200g dark chocolate
2 beaten eggs
2tsp baking powder
1/2 cup of plain flour
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup raw hazelnuts, use roasted if you can find them

Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 180C and line your pan of choice with baking paper

Looks the same as any melted concoction

2. Melt butter and chocolate together in a bowl, using your preferred method. I'm a fan of double boiler melting in a bowl, above bubbling hot water.

3. Roast your hazelnuts on a a sheet of baking paper at 180C for 10 minutes. Once cooked, rub off the skins with a slightly damp tea towel. They're crisp up in a few seconds. Remember to shake out your tea towel before washing it, or you'll get hazelnut skins in your work uniform like I did

This is the picture from the chocolate cake loljk

4. Mix the sugar and eggs into the chocolate and butter mixture

5. Then sift the flour and baking powder into the disgusting brownie mixture

Seems like a lot but you'll thank me?

6. Place your hazelnuts and chocolate chips on the bottom of the baking tray and then slowly pour the brownie mixture on top. Tap the tray several times to reduce air bubbles and even the surface out a bit more
7. Bake for at least 20-30 minutes at 180C. Leave to cool and eat. Or eat, whatever.

I had a dream the other day that I had retired. I worked part time at a busy little cafe I owned. I spent my day baking cakes and making drinks, while my mum made the savoury food with my aunt. At the end of the day, I went home to my husband and I got to be a foster mum for a horde of golden retriever puppies from the Seeing Eye Dogs Australia.

It was a really good dream and I think I would be a very happy woman if I got to do this when I'm older. Check out their website, the Seeing Eye Dogs Australia, I donate $50 a month to them to help train up seeing eye dog puppies. Its tax deductible so you get it all back at tax time and you get frequent updates from association with pictures of your puppy, what its up to in its training and other information about the training process in general. So its like saving money for a fantastic reason, you can feel good about your use of money AND you get cute pictures of a puppy. Did you know it costs $30, 000 to train up a seeing eye dog and only about 60% of them get through the training?