Kicking off with baking some of the best brownies you will ever taste will require you buy some seriously cheap dark chocolate.  No need for high-quality Lindt or anything like that.  Supermarket own-brand is perfect. 

Ingredients:

• 200g salted butter;
• 350g cheap dark chocolate;
• 3 large eggs;
• 250g dark brown sugar;
• 50g self-raising flour;

Method:

• Melt together the chocolate and the butter in a bowl over a simmering pan of water.
• In a separate large bowl, beat together the eggs and sugar.
• Once it’s cooled down, add the chocolate to the egg and sugar mix, and combine.
• Sift in the flour and combine.
• Transfer the batter to an 8 to 9-inch square baking tin and bake at 190°C (170°C fan) for around 30-35 minutes.
• Look for cracks on the surface and remove from the oven.  You will know it’s ready if you can hear a faint bubbling.
• Leave to cool before cutting or removing from the tray (some time in the fridge will definitely help as well).

The recipe that got me into baking.

My Aunt Claire gave me this recipe when she noticed that I would demolish anything she baked, whenever we went to visit her and my Nan in Blackpool. 

One day, for lack of anything better to do, I tried baking them.  They turned out (almost) as good as when Claire did them.  Over the years, these brownies have been my ace-in-the-hole when it comes to bake sales and celebrations at work, earning high praise from anyone who ever eats them, including senior restaurant figures in five-star hotels and one Michelin-starred chef, who went so far as to call them “the best brownies ever”.

These brownies can be easily customised with nuts (The European mandates pecans in hers), biscuits, or I guess anything else which comes to mind.  I would advise against adding extra sweetness into them, however, as they are already extraordinarily rich (you know they are rich if I tell you they are rich).  They are also very moist, so you should definitely cool and store them in the fridge. Once back up to room temperature though, they are dangerously addictive and I personally guarantee that you will never, ever, look at another brownie recipe ever again.