Written By Catherine Parrott

I came across this recipe quite by chance, like most happy accidents in the kitchen I was convinced this recipe wouldn’t work- I’ve naively never seen a brownie recipe without butter that wasn’t vegan. And although I was well aware that the fudgy texture of many an excellent brownie comes from the sugar and chocolate content, I swore that butter was vital. However, this recipe completely changed my perceptions and I really do hope those dairy-free brownie lovers out there agree!

RECIPE:

  • 120ml VEGETABLE OIL

  • 60g COCOA POWDER

  • 60g HAZELNUT CHOCOLATE SPREAD(Or two generous dollops from a table spoon, choosing a good quality spread here, for better flavour)

  • 130g CASTER SUGAR

  • 100g LIGHT BROWN SUGAR

  • 2 MEDIUM EGGS

  • 1 Tsp VANILLA EXTRACT

  • 50g PLAIN FLOUR (I also tried with light brown wholemeal flour and it worked wonderfully)

  • 1 Tsp FINE SALT

  • 100g DARK CHOCOLATE BUTTONS (I used small 65% buttons but honestly, bakers choice, go with whatever chocolate you enjoy/love/obsess over)

BEFORE YOU START…

  • Preheat your oven to 165c° (170c for less powerful ovens)

  • Grease and line a 20x 20cm Square baking tray

METHOD:

In a pan, heat the oil and cocoa powder until the cocoa powder has been absorbed by the oil and you have a smooth paste. This nonsense is called ‘cocoa blooming’, this helps to bring out the flavour from the powder but is also great for texture as this paste will thicken when heated, this in turn means the brownie doesn’t have to be cooked as long, resulting in a fudge-like texture. Glorious glorious nonsense.

Mix through the Chocolate Hazelnut Spread until smooth. Set aside until needed.

Whisk your eggs and sugar until doubled in volume and light in colour (this will take about 15 minutes by hand or 5-10 in an electric mixer). To test the mix, lift out the whisk from the mix and if you can draw a figure of 8 before it sinks back into itself, it’s thick enough. Take a spoonful of the egg mixture and use it loosen the cocoa paste, fold the two mixtures together until combined.

Sieve your flour and fold gradually into the batter, making sure not to not too much air out of the mixture.  Finish by folding in the chocolate buttons into the batter. Bake for 20-25s minutes, it will still be soft when it’s cooked.

Leave to cool completely before cutting.

Catherine Parrott
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