Chocolate brownies
These brownies came about due to op shopping.
There’s an op shop near my workplace that I pop into occasionally to look for photography props. Most of the time I come out empty handed but sometimes I get something good.
On my last visit, I found something great – a large French crystal cake stand. For the huge sum of $5. Wheeee.
Every time I go op shopping and get something good, it makes me want to go again. So the next day, I rounded up two of my op shop crew – Haz and Thanh (we missed you, Shellie!) for an impromptu op shop crawl.
I didn’t buy much, though I did get some great silver plated cutlery for peanuts (these beautiful forks in these pictures), but it was still worth the trip because my very last purchase was a brand new brownie tin with a divider insert.
Of course I had to bake brownies to use my new tin. Of course.
There’s a billion different recipes for brownies out there, and here is another. It’s not particularly special or amazing, but it’s a good base recipe. The recipe has very little flour compared to the amount of butter and sugar, so it’s particularly rich and fudgey. I also undercooked them a bit, for even more fudgey factor. I also added a teeny bit of cayenne pepper, to give it a tiny bit of spice without being overwhelming.
Now tell me: do you have any op shop secrets? Where should my gang and I visit on our next crawl? What’s the best buy you’ve made? I’ll give you a brownie in return. 🙂
(Btw, the stand and cloche in these photos didn’t come from an op shop – that was a present from Bro and Bro’s gf. And the plate was a present from April. But all the cutlery, the cup and the book came from op shops.)
Ingredients
- 75g flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 180g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 375g butter, cut up
- 1 tablespoon instant coffee
- 5 large eggs
- 400g brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 170°C.
- Butter and line a 33 x 23 cm baking pan.
- In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and cayenne pepper (if using).
- Put the chocolate, butter and instant coffee in a heatproof bowl and slowly melt over a pot of simmering water.
- Once melted, remove from the heat and let it cool.
- In an electric mixer, beat together the eggs, brown sugar and vanilla until creamy.
- Fold in the cooled chocolate mixture, followed by the dry ingredients.
- Pour into the prepared baking tin and bake for about 35-40 minutes - don't overbake.
- Let it cool completely before cutting into squares.
Notes
Adapted from The Golden Book of Chocolate
Hannah
February 19, 2014 @ 5:16 am
BROWNIE BFFS!!!! Mine are the opposite kind of brownie, though, and I have no nice crockery. Boo.
leaf (the indolent cook)
February 22, 2014 @ 8:12 pm
It’s been a while since I’ve been in an op shop, certainly fun to shop for props and stuff though. Great finds, and a great tasty result. 😀
milkteaxx
February 26, 2014 @ 11:39 am
i love reading about your op shop trips! i wish we had something similar here in syd!
Annette
March 1, 2014 @ 5:44 pm
Those brownies look great! I don’t make them often, as I am not a great chocolate fan –but think you might have just tempted me.
Daisy@Nevertoosweet
March 14, 2014 @ 12:40 am
Why why why do you always find the best deals and I always end up with the expensive things hehe LOVE chocolate brownies! Make them all the time cuz it’s so easy hehe