Easy Chocolate Brownies

This is a really easy brownie recipe that always goes down well at coffee mornings, cake stalls or just a nice treat to have with a cuppa at home.  My girls love these as a pudding with icecream or custard as an occasional treat. 

125g unsalted butter, chopped into cubes

200g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

3/4 cup light soft brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup self raising flour

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup dark choc chunks (I just cut up a small chocolate bar in to chunks)

1/2 cup chopped pecan nuts or walnuts

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a 20cm square cake tin with non-stick baking paper, make sure there's a decent overhang of baking paper.

Put a saucepan halful of water on a low heat.  Put a heatproof bowl over the water and put the butter and chocolate in it.  Stir it until the butter and chocolate have melted and are well mixted together.  As soon as they are melted and mixed together add the brown sugar and vanilla extract.  Mix well to combine everything before you add the sifted self raising flour and the lightly beaten eggs.  Beat well to thoroughly combine everything and then stir in choc chunks and whichever nuts (if any) you are using.

Gently pour the mixture into the lined cake tin and smooth the surface.  Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes until set.  Remove the brownies from the oven.  Cool in the tin for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack.  Cut into squares and dust with icing sugar when ready to serve.

If the brownies are not devoured that day, you can store them in an airtight container for a couple of days.