Chocolate Macadamia Brownies

Three words to bring a little #enerjoy to your day ... CHOCOLATE MACADAMIA BROWNIES. Sometimes we all need a little treat! Melt-in-the-mouth, easy-peasy to make and - here's the excuse - great for post exercise recovery! If you fancy a sweet treat every now and then, making your own is definitely the best option. Shop-bought brownies can be packed with nasties to give them a long shelf-life. Make your own 'homemade snack' and you know exactly what goes in it!

Eat as in the photo or serve with raspberries and a dollop of crème fraiche or ice cream and they're good enough for a dinner party.

Ingredients to make 12 brownies

• Prep time – 10–15 minutes
• Cooking time – 15–20 minutes

You will need a 20-23cm square cake tin, greased and lined with
greaseproof paper

• 120g good quality dark chocolate (70 per cent cocoa)
• 115g softened butter
• 2 large eggs
• 150g golden caster, coconut or soft brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 20g self-raising flour
• 45g plain flour
• 1 tbsp cocoa
• pinch of salt
• 50g macadamia nuts, halved

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.
2. Put the dark chocolate into a heatproof bowl and place it over a saucepan of simmering water. When it has melted, remove from the heat, add the butter and stir it until smooth. Leave it to cool for a few minutes.
3. Break the eggs into a bowl with the sugar and vanilla essence and beat until pale and thick. Add to the melted chocolate mixture.
4. Sift the flour, salt and the cocoa into the mixture and beat it until smooth.
5. Add the macadamia nuts (saving a few to scatter over the top), stir to combine and then pour the whole lot into the cake tin. Scatter the remaining macadamias over the top. 
6. Bake in the oven for about 15–20 minutes. Don’t overcook – the top needs to be firm but the centre needs to be gooey.
7. Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes or so and then cut into squares.