It’s the most wonderful time of the year! I won’t lie, the last few weeks have probably been the busiest and most stressful of the year and I cannot wait to close my laptop at the end of next week and prepare for Christmas as well as enjoy some down time at home with the family. Bring it on!
This brownie blog post almost didn’t happen. After testing and finalising the recipe I scheduled some time to bake a batch for the blog shoot. WELL, halfway through the baking time my oven packed up (the timing, argh!) and I ended up with a tray of half-baked chocolate goo. Don’t get me wrong, it tasted amazing and definitely did not go to waste. But sadly the “brownies” I was left with were definitely not photo-worthy. I was determined to share this recipe with you all though, and luckily I managed to squeeze in another batch for these photos, yay!
These Christmas brownies are rich, dark and fudgy, and definitely fit for the festive season thanks to the addition of fruit mince and chopped nuts. They’re also decadent enough to be served as a dessert and you should most definitely add this recipe to your list of holiday bakes.
CHRISTMAS MINCE PIE BROWNIES
- 225g butter
- 225g dark chocolate
- 3 large eggs
- 350g castor sugar
- 5ml (1 tsp) vanilla essence
- 150g flour
- 5ml (1 tsp) baking powder
- 45g cocoa
- pinch of salt
- 200g fruit mince
- 100g pecan nuts or walnuts, roughly chopped
- 50g dried cranberries
- 50g dark chocolate, melted for drizzling
- sprinkles, to decorate (optional)
1.) Preheat the oven to 170ºC. Line the base of a 20cm brownie tin with baking paper and grease the tin well.
2.) Place the butter and dark chocolate in a small saucepan. Stir over a low heat until everything has melted, then set aside to cool.
3.) Whisk the eggs and castor sugar together in a separate bowl for 2 minutes until pale and fluffy. Whisk in the vanilla essence.
4.) Whisk the cooled chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. Sift in the flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt and fold in by hand. Add the fruit mince, nuts and cranberries and fold in.
5.) Pour the batter into the prepared tin. Bake for 50-55 minutes. The brownies should have formed a crust on top but still be a touch wobbly in the middle. Set side to cool.
6.) Cut the brownies into squares and drizzle with melted chocolate. Add the sprinkles if using and leave to set before serving.
Cupcakes and Couscous 
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