Brownie Sandwiches
Thank you so much for all the lovely responses from last week's blog about the best hot chocolate. I hope you gave it a go and enjoyed playing with all the flavour combinations. I am inspired to start drinking my hot chocolate from a small bowl after a recent trip to Paris, that way I get more hot chocolate!
I wrote about blondies at the start of autumn and as we move further into the season it was time to bake some brownies - oh, but these are no ordinary brownies, these are brownie sandwiches!
Why have one brownie at a time when you can have two!? For the filling, these little gems have peanut butter buttercream and you can choose any other additions you care for. I chose salted caramel, but chocolate sauce or butterscotch sauce would also be delicious.
Brownies normally are quite chunky, these are thinner but still have all the essential qualities… chewiness, softness and a rich chocolate flavour.
Brownie Sandwiches with Peanut Butter Buttercream
40 g unsalted Butter
150 g golden caster sugar
2 large Eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
350 g 70% dark chocolate
35 g plain flour
1/4 baking powder
Peanut Butter Buttercream
200 g soft unsalted butter
400 g icing sugar
1 tbsp whole milk
3 tbsp smooth peanut butter
Preheat your oven to 180ºC and line a baking sheet with baking paper.
Put a small saucepan onto low heat and melt the butter and 200g of the dark chocolate. Keep stirring to stop the chocolate seizing up until it’s completely melted and then leave to one side.
Whisk the eggs, vanilla and sugar until light and foamy, which will take about 10-15 minutes.
In a separate bowl sift together the flour and baking powder and then very gently fold this into the whisked egg mixture. Then gently fold in the melted chocolate mixture until combined.
Chop the remaining dark chocolate into small chunks and fold this through the mixture also.
Using a spoon, dollop a tablespoon of the brownie mixture onto your prepared baking sheets, leaving about a 2cm space between them. The mixture should give you 8 brownies.
Bake in the oven for about 8 minutes, or until the tops have crackled and the brownie is cooked through.
Whilst the brownies are cooling you can get on with making the peanut buttercream. Put the soft butter into a mixer and beat for 5 minutes until pale a fluffy. In a separate bowl sift the icing sugar to remove all lumps.
Tip half the icing sugar into the butter and beat until combined, then tip the other half of the icing sugar in and beat again. By adding the icing sugar in two stages it won't all fly out of the bowl when you beat it!
Add the milk to bring the buttercream to a smooth texture and then add the peanut butter and mix until combined.
Once the brownies are cold you can fill one half with some buttercream, either piped on or spread with a palette knife. You can now add any extra flavours, like salted caramel, before sandwiching another brownie on the top.
These are so tasty and would be great at a halloween celebration, but more on that next week!
