I’ve been on a serious baking kick lately… and I mean serious. Not to brag or anything – who am I kidding absolutely gonna brag – I seem to have perfected the method for the most incredible, toweringly tall scones. I made a superb vanilla / cream cheese / fresh strawberry bundt for my mum’s birthday. I made wickedly good brownies for Dan to celebrate sysadmin day (it’s a thing, honest!) and then a week later… I adapted said wicked brownies to make them even more wicked. Inspired by the amazing brownie I sampled at #TheCityGirls Leeds, I give you my… Amaretto. Pecan. Brownies. Recipe.
If you like a rich, moist, fudgy brownie then you’re in the right place. With a crisp top and a molten bottom that really requires some time in the fridge to firm up if you want any semblance of structural integrity, I think I have found my perfect brownies. They are almost upsettingly easy to make and even more easy to devour… bonus points for being accidentally gluten free too!
Ingredients
- 225g butter
- 225g dark chocolate
- 200g caster sugar
- 2 tablespoons amaretto (or you know, use almond extract and probably less of it?)
- 200g ground almonds
- 3 eggs, beaten
- A heap of chopped pecans
- A smaller heap of unchopped pecans
Method
- Preheat your oven to 160°C – mine’s fan and fierce, so you might want yours a little higher?
- Line a 23cm square pan and set aside. I use my favourite black stoneware Le Creuset baby (a total bargain from TK Maxx a while ago) and foil backed parchment.
- Chop your butter into cubes and smash your chocolate up, then melt them together in a heavy bottomed saucepan on a VERY low heat. Patience grasshopper, you want it smooth and glossy and unburned.
- Take the pan off the heat, stir in your sugar and your amaretto/extract and let it cool a little.
- Stir in your ground almonds and beaten eggs, about 1/2 of each at a time.
- Chuck in your chopped pecans and give them a stir through to distribute evenly, ish.
- Pour the batter into your pan, and press your unchopped pecans into the top to make it all fancy looking.
- Bake for approximately 30 minutes – the top will have set but the mixture underneath will still be pretty gooey and wet. I let these cool on the side before letting them rest in the fridge overnight.
- Cut into 16 equal squares, devour.
I’ve been using Bournville in this recipe because I had some in the house that needed using up – next time I’ll be doing this with a much better (read: more bitter) chocolate for a more intense hit. The first time I tried these I used chopped walnuts in the batter, and vanilla extract (2 tsp) instead of amaretto. I miiiight have a go at making these with cherries and kirsch too, for a black forest kinda vibe. SO many possibilities! SO easy to make. SO little in the way of clean up too!
Please do let me know if you try this recipe – I would love to hear how it turns out for you!