A little bit about hazelnut mint brownies

So a while back, my mum bought a block of peppermint chocolate to make peppermint cheesecake.
Months later, no cheesecake and only half a block left.

So I decided to make mint brownies.

With hazelnuts!

This recipe is great if you don't have any cooking chocolate, because it only uses cocoa powder

It was after mixing this and putting it in the pan that I realised I should've added Nutella !!! for that real hazelnut flavor

Improvements for next time:
Don't let anyone eat the chocolate beforehand, so you can have more in your brownies

Arrange squares of chocolate in the middle and cover it up with the rest of the batter

Hazelnut Mint Surprise Brownies

1 2/3 cups sugar
170g butter, melted
2 Tbsp water
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsps vanilla
1 1/3 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup crushed or chopped hazelnuts

block of peppermint chocolate

1. Combine sugar, melted butter and water in large bowl. 

2. Mix in lightly beaten eggs and vanilla. 

3. Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in medium bowl, stir into sugar mixture. 

4. Stir in nuts and chocolate. 

5. Spoon half the batter into prepared baking pan, arrange squares of chocolate pieces and cover with the rest of the batter

6. Bake at 180C for 20 minutes. Cool completely in pan on wire rack then cut into squares, bars, triangles or parallelograms

Variations:
You can omit the hazelnuts, or use chopped walnuts or pecans
Try replacing 2 Tbsp of cocoa with Cadbury Mint Chocolate drink powder for an overall minty brownie :)
And any kind of chocolate would be good, really... White chocolate, caramel, chocolate chips, Crunchie pieces, peanut butter chocolate, any kind of chocolate!

The brownies I've made in the past resembled cakes, they were crumbly or weren't dark like the ones you buy from cafes
But these were good.
I especially like the peppermint soft-centred chocolate surprise

I took these to Suze's BBQ yesterday.
Start of summer, no exams, Castor Bay, ultimate frisbee... mint.

I heard a funny story that happened in Thailand, involving JoJo and 1K2:2 "I am about to go the way of all the the earth... So be strong, show yourself a man."
But you'll have to ask the Chan brothers for the full story :P


And to conclude,
It's practically summerrrrr and the sun will come out and it's going to be a gooooood week. xoxxo

Signed,
Elisa