Christmas is officially coming, my housemate has put up our tree and the air is thick with the smell of mulled wine. I happened upon this recipe when I got an unexpected invitation to my Uncle’s for Sunday dinner (thanks younger cousin for going to work without a key!) and I started to bake brownies without enough plain flour or butter. I find brownies a very forgiving recipe at the best of times; however the addition of hazelnut oil and cornflour resulted in beautiful squidgy brownies. While brownies themselves are not traditionally Christmas fayre, Terry’s Chocolate Orange is a staple Christmas treat for many UK households so I am arguing that this recipe is a Christmassy one.

This is an excellent recipe to whip up before a Christmas party to delight your friends or to make for anyone who isn’t a fan of Christmassy desserts (I for one cannot stand mixed peel!) Either way, nothing says domestic Goddess like producing these wearing a Christmas jumper, even if you were covered in flour only 30 minutes previously.

To make these brownies you will need:

200g dark chocolate

100ml hazelnut oil (or any nut oil, or vegetable oil – no olive oil!)

4 eggs

250g caster sugar

50g plain flour

50g corn flour (you could potentially make this a gluten free recipe by using 100g corn flour and no plain flour)

30g cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 Terry’s Chocolate Orange or 1 bag of mini segments

 

Preheat your oven to 180°C. Using a hand whisk whisk your eggs and sugar until they are thick enough to leave a trail of mixture when your whisk is lifted up.

Melt together your chocolate and oil using your preferred method. Leave to cool slightly.

Fold your chocolate mix into the egg mix.

To this sift in your flour, baking powder and cocoa powder.

Line a tin with baking parchment and spoon in your brownie mixture. Spread it out evenly and top with your chocolate orange segments.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the top has crusted and a skewer comes out almost clean.

Serve as they are or with cream or ice cream if you desire. Top with a sprig of holly if you’re already feeling especially festive.