Hi, everyone! This is my first post on this blog, and I am a bit at a loss for words. I have rewritten these first few lines a couple of times already, which shows that I am somewhat venturing into my uncharted territory – that is, writing about food. I love writing and have been writing ever since I was young. I would write in journals, mostly (I still do). I would also write short stories, but would usually just keep it to myself. However, after being inspired by the many food bloggers that I follow and after some hesitation, I am now (finally) starting a food blog, combining both my love for creating food and writing prose. Yay!
To celebrate my very first blog post here, I've decided to share my wholewheat Speculoos brownies, which I made over the weekend. These brownies are kind of a mishmash of some ingredients that I have leftover in the kitchen cupboard and fridge. Also, brownies are quick and easy to whip up, which makes for a good and quick fix to any chocolate cravings.
This brownie recipe is one that I have been using for many years. It dates back to my secondary school days, when, during recess and all by myself (not that I minded being alone; I quite enjoyed the solitude once in a while), I was browsing the school library for books and I happened to stumble upon a chocolate recipe book (I can't remember the book title) that contained this particular brownie recipe. Feeling inspired, I took down some of the recipes within the book's pages. Even until today, those recipes sit upon my shelf. So this is the very first recipe I used when I started baking brownies. It is truly an old, reliable, fail-safe recipe for very chocolatey, very fudgy yet slightly cakey brownies – the way I like my brownies.
For these brownies, I substituted half of the plain flour for wholewheat flour. It was a brownie experiment. I wanted to see how brownies would taste with wholewheat flour, and how wholewheat, being a heavier and coarser flour, would affect the texture. I also added Speculoos buttercream and crushed Speculoos biscuits on top, for good measure. It turned out pretty yummy! Moist, delicious, chocolately. Mmmm.
I think in the future, instead of using all oil, I would try to substitute half of it with melted butter. I wonder if that would improve the flavour of these even more. Until then, I think these brownies are good as is, and even slightly nostalgic. :)
Wholewheat Brownies
Makes one 8" x 8" square
Ingredients:
150 g dark chocolate (I used 70% dark)
100 g (1/2 cup) oil
200 g (1 cup) dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
35 g (about 1/3 cup) wholewheat flour
40 g (about 1/3 cup) plain flour
30 g (about 4 Tbs) good quality cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Add-ins:
Chocolate chunks, nuts, etc (to your liking)
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C or 350°F.
Melt the dark chocolate over a bain marie or in the microwave at 30-second intervals. Set aside to cool.
Whisk eggs and brown sugar together. Whisk in the oil and vanilla.
Add the melted chocolate to the egg mixture and until incorporated.
Sift the flours and cocoa powder into the chocolate mixture. Fold in thoroughly but do not over-mix. Stir in any add-ins.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the top is firm and crackly and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs. Let cool in the pan. Cut into 16 squares (or 9 squares if you like larger pieces, I won't judge).
