Let’s be honest, everybody pulls out their Christmas playlist once November hits. There’s no break in between Halloween and Christmas — it’s a fast-paced world and we’re all in it for the ride. That said, I think a treat that feels a little more special around the holidays is chocolate. Even if you don’t like chocolate, I am sure there’s at least one box under your tree. At a normal time of the year, it’s like “yeah, chocolate, we get the hype.” Once Christmas rolls around, however, chocolate becomes royalty. And we are celebrating it in this recipe — chocolate malt brownies. It’s a recipe that gives us the best of both worlds — a fudgy texture with a good chew.
Tools:
2 mixing bowls (heatproof, e.g. glass)
1 large mixing bowl
A mixing tool, e.g. spatula, spoon, whisk
8-inch by 8-inch brownie pan
Ingredients:
¼ cup of boiling hot water
¾ cup of flour
¼ cup of cocoa powder
⅓ cup of butter chopped into pieces
¼ cup of melted coconut oil or neutral oil
½ cup of brown sugar
¼ -⅓ cup of white sugar
1 large egg
3-4 tbsp of malt chocolate powder (e.g., Ovaltine, Milo, Horlicks) or malt milk powder
1 ½ tsp of vanilla extract
1 tsp of salt
½ of a bar of dark chocolate, chopped
½ of a bar of milk chocolate, chopped
*do not use chocolate chips as they have been chemically processed to maintain their shape, which can affect the taste and texture of the brownies
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350F and grease your brownie pan.
- To bloom the cocoa powder, combine hot water with cocoa powder in a heatproof bowl. In another heatproof bowl, microwave the butter and dark chocolate for about 30 seconds or less until the chocolate is semi-melted. Stir the rest of the way to fully melt the butter and chocolate — this is to avoid burning your chocolate. Then combine your oil and let the cocoa and chocolate cool.
- Once cooled, combine the dry and wet ingredients. Gently fold in the chopped milk chocolate and pour into the pan. A good trick is to let the brownie batter sit for about 30 minutes at room temperature before baking — this will allow the ingredients to get to know each other and enhance the flavour.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the batter slightly sticks to a toothpick when you insert it into the center (it should not come out clean!) Let cool and place in the refrigerator for an hour before cutting.
With the holidays approaching, there are many things to be grateful for and joyful about. Moments you should look forward to and cherish as well as people you should love and remember. Anything that can bring you a little giggle or smile is worth holding onto. I hope the process of making these brownies by yourself with some nice Christmas music or with your friends or your family will be one of those things you can carry forward to next year as a joyful memory.
