Week 27 - Daim Bar Birthday Brownies

Good news! I have a new fridge, so I'm no longer having to survive on tinned food & frozen veg. Not that there's anything wrong with tinned food & frozen veg, but not being able to have milk for a cup of tea was sure to test any ones patience! All in all it's been a much calmer week in the kitchen, although I swear my toaster is still trying to kill me :-)

Now we're over the half way point of my blogging challenge, it got me thinking back to when I first started & I went back to read some of my early posts. It's made me realise how much I enjoy writing each week & receiving comments about my creations. (The baking's not been too bad either!) But it also made me feel a little sad to think what I might do when I reach week 52, do I just stop writing? Now I've released my inner writer I want to keep on going! Maybe I need to think of a new foodie challenge to embark on, but maybe one that is less calorific! For now though I'm happy I've got another 25 weeks to go...so bring on this weeks recipe.

I created this recipe for my Mum as it's her birthday this week. She has a super sweet tooth so I thought brownies would hit the spot! Rather than using the traditional walnuts, I thought I'd have a go with bashed up Dime bars. Sorry, Daim bars! (Yes I am old enough to remember when Snickers were Marathons, Starburst were Opal Fruits & Daim Bars were Dime Bars...armadillos!) It gives them a lovely almondy crunch & the sweetness offsets the bitterness of the dark chocolate. I thought of this after making the Malteser Cookies a couple of weeks back, sweeties are a good source of recipe inspiration for me!

50g plain chocolate
65g butter
175g caster sugar
2 eggs
Few drops vanilla essence
50g plain flour
1/2tsp baking powder
3 Daim bars bashed up

1. Melt together the chocolate, butter & sugar in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs & vanilla, then finally fold in the flour, baking powder & Daim bar pieces.

2. Line a baking tin approx 15cm square with either baking parchment (just don't set fire to it like I did!) or foil to stop the brownies sticking. Pour in the mixture & bake in the oven at 180c/GM4 for around 30-35 minutes until the top just starts to crack.

3 Leave to cool in the tin, then lift out & cut into squares.

So there you have it, Birthday Brownies (sparkler optional!) Happy Birthday Mum! Hope you like them & you enjoy our day in the big city being ladies what lunch xx

See you all next week, Rebecca x