I don’t often put up recipes because I’m just an amateur cook/baker. But when I come across a really awesome recipe, or create one that makes the husband ask for more, I really want to share it and to be honest, write it down so that I remember it myself! I’m horrible at taking food photos, but I promise that it really tastes a lot better my picture looks!
I did not come up with the recipe – I adapted mine from this Olive Oil and Coconut Brownies by Melissa Clark recipe and incorporated some suggestions from the reviews. I don’t like the idea of olive oil in brownies – I prefer the smell and taste of butter. I made a lot of adjustments as I cooked – such as adding more flour as I found the final mixture too watery, and I also didn’t have some ingredients, so I just replaced them with what I had.
I am very happy with all the adjustments I made, although I really don’t know how it would be if I had followed the recipe. It came out with a deep chocolate flavour that wasn’t too sweet, which was one of the complaints from the original recipe. My brownie set quite well, maintaining its fluffy texture but not too pudding-like – it’s still much softer than the usual brownies I’m used to, but honestly I thought it was so much better this way.
Ingredients:
~90g butter, plus 10g to grease pan
40g cocoa powder
35g dark chocolate, finely chopped
35g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
70ml boiling water
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup desiccated coconut
fine sea salt
Directions:
1. Heat the oven to 175 degree celcius.
2. Lightly grease a 6″ by 10″ baking pan. I put a strip of parchment paper down the middle to help with removing the brownie later – it doesn’t have to cover the whole pan.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, finely chopped dark chocolate and 70ml boiling water until smooth and the chocolate has melted.
4. Whisk in the butter (softened in room temperature).
5. Add the eggs, yolks and vanilla. Whisk until combined.
6. Add the sugar, whisking until fully incorporated.
7. Fold in the flour and salt until just combined.
8. Fold in the coarsely chopped chocolate pieces.
9. Pour half the batter into the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula.
10. Sprinkle 1/2 of the coconut on top of the batter.
11. Pour in the remaining batter and smooth.
12. Top with remaining coconut. Sprinkle some fine sea salt over.
13. Bake until just set and firm to the touch, about 30 minutes. (These brownies will become more solid as they cool, so inserting a toothpick to check will not work.)
14. Allow to cool before cutting. (I was a little too anxious and cut immediately, and it was harder to cut and lift out of the pan because it is very soft.)
It sounds like a lot of steps, but it’s really easy! I just like to write out the directions in small steps so that I don’t get confused and skip a step, which happens a lot when recipes combine multiple steps into one. It’s super yummy, soft and gooey in the middle, with a really fragrant toasted coconut flavour at the top enhanced by more coconut in the middle. Because there’s no coconut extract or oil, it’s not overpowered by the coconut flavour, while the coconut in turn cuts the chocolate flavour so that it doesn’t get too one-tone.
If you guys decide to give this recipe a try, please do give a shout out on how you feel!
The Good Life Bunny 