Extra Gooey Chocolate Brownies

Dieters look away now. Because each bite of these indulgent slices of heaven contains enough naughtiness to send Gillian McKeith into a nervous breakdown. But are they worth it? Totally.

Now I’m a big fan of baking, and if there’s one treat from the dessert menu I can never resist, it’s a brownie. But for some reason every time I attempted to make a batch they would never compare to the perfect ‘crispy on top gooey in the middle’ ones from Starbucks. I’d always end up with a dryer cakey consistency, when what I was really craving was that melt in the mouth experience that’s so good you would happily discard all dreams of ever getting a Lucy Meck body, just for that 5 minutes of heaven. 

Anyway, after a lot of trial and error, I finally discovered the perfect recipe for my perfect brownie and my-oh-my were they gooey. So gooey in fact I could barely get my knife through them! 

So it’s goodbye lacklustre cakey brownies... hello new favourite recipe (and a couple of extra inches on the waistline!)

To make these oh-so-gooey brownies you will need:

• 150g unsalted butter
• 300g brown sugar
• 75g cocoa powder
• 150g plain flour
• 1 tsb bicarbonate of soda
• Pinch salt
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 150g dark chocolate

1. In a saucepan, over a gentle heat, melt the butter. Then once melted add the sugar and stir until blended. 

2. In a separate bowl stir together all the dry ingredients. You can sieve them if you really want but I never bother.

3. Combine the dry and wet ingredients. 

4. Add the chocolate in chunks and stir, gazing lovingly into your chocolately potion until it’s all melted and smooth. (This is the time to have a final guilt-free taste before the eggs go in... although even the risk of food poisoning probably won’t put you off licking the bowl after you've tasted it). 

5. Whisk the eggs and vanilla together then add to your concoction. 

6. Combine quickly then salivate as you pour the mixture into a deep 25cm baking tray. 

7. Shove it into a 190 degree oven and cook for around 20 minutes. But do not, I repeat DO NOT overcook these badboys. Overcooking is the prime cause for dry cakey brownies. When you get them out the oven there should be a crispy layer covering the top but the rest may still seem a little runny. This is fine. They will be sticky enough to hold together after cooling.

8. Devour those beauties like there’s no tomorrow. And don’t feel bad about it. Be proud that you created something so delicious and congratulate yourself with a second helping!