Kathryn Warwick

• 100g of dark (at least 70%) chocolate
• 150g butter
• 300g of caster sugar (golden if you are going out specifically to buy it)
• 4 medium eggs (if you have large use 3 plus one yolk)
• 150g of self raising flour
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp of vanilla essence (optional)
• 100g of nuts, pecans or walnuts are best (optional)

Get out whatever tray you are baking the brownies in. A small deep roasting tin, or a square cake tin both work fine. If you have a dedicated tray bake tin use that you lucky person!
Line it with a bit of butter and greaseproof paper, I know it’s tedious but it it will be worth it later. Switch your oven on, somewhere in between 140 and 180 degrees centigrade. I’d love to give you a more accurate temperature than that but I really can’t, the numbers have been cleaned off my oven round the dial…

melt the butter and cholocalte in a pan over a low heat
take the pan off the heat and stir in the sugar until it is less grainy
beat in the eggs one at a time
stir in the flour and salt
add the optional ingredients if you are using them

Stick the mix in your prepared tin and chuck it in the middle shelf of your oven.
It’ll take around 20 to 40 minutes depending on the size of your tin and your oven. You know both better than me so just use your judgement. It is done when they have risen away from the edges of the tin, and a cocktail stick (or a fork) comes out clean when you poke it in the middle.
Leave to cool and cut into squares. If you like.
Tip: if you have under cooked them a bit and are a bit too squidgy, put them in the fridge, they’ll firm up a bit and they’ll still taste great in any case.