Cookies and Cream Fudge Brownies

It’s been another busy weekend of spring cleaning and de-cluttering, it may be hard work but it always feels so good once it’s all done. Whilst hubby was moving his office up into the loft room I made good use of my time to bake these brownies I keep hearing so much about in the blog world. Anything that involves a combination of chocolate and Oreo cookies gets my vote, who else is in agreement? If there was only one word I was allowed to use to describe these brownies it would be have to be WOW! These brownies are incredibly delicious and would be wonderful served warm with some good quality vanilla ice cream. If you dare to make these you will without doubt want to bake them again.

On a side note this week I had the best surprise from my hubby when after years of lusting after a DSLR camera he bought me the Canon EOS 500D + 18-55mm + 75-300mm Twin Lens Kit!! I am such a lucky girl/wife and love my new camera. Although it's gonna take me some time to really learn how to use it to full advantage. The pics of the brownies are taken with my new camera and I can immediately see the difference in quality compared to anything before. I'm really looking forward to taking more pics of my baking and cooking with my new toy :)

Cookies and Cream Fudge Brownies

Ingredients

165g/5½oz butter, plus extra for greasing

200g/7oz dark chocolate, grated or finely chopped

3 free-range eggs

2 free-range egg yolks 1 vanilla pod, seeds only (or alternatively 2 tsp vanilla extract)

165g/5½ oz soft light brown sugar

2 tbsp plain flour

1 tbsp cocoa powder

pinch salt

154g/5½oz pack chocolate biscuits, such as Oreos, broken into quarters

icing sugar, for dusting (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease a 20cm/8in square baking tin with butter, then line with baking paper with the paper overlapping the sides a little.

Melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat. When the butter has melted, remove the pan from the heat and add the grated (or chopped) chocolate. Leave to stand for a few minutes, or until the chocolate melts, and then stir together. Alternatively, you can put the chocolate and butter in a bowl and melt in the microwave in 25-second blasts, stirring well each time.

Whisk the eggs, egg yolks and vanilla together in a large bowl until the eggs begin to get light and fluffy. Add the sugar in two additions, whisking between each. Pour it around the side of the egg mix so as not to knock out the air that has been whisked in. Keep whisking until the mixture becomes stiffer. Once the egg mixture is ready, pour the chocolate into it - again around the sides so as not to knock the air out.

Add the flour, cocoa powder, salt and a third of the biscuits and stir until fully combined, then pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Scatter the remaining biscuits over the top, pressing them in slightly. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 25–30 minutes. The middle should be very so slightly gooey.

Leave the brownies to cool in the tin - the top will sink and crack a little. Pull the brownies out using the overlapping paper and cut into squares. Dust with icing sugar.

Flapjacks

I hope everyone had a great weekend and made the most of the weather. We had a lovely time on Sunday when our son came over and of course we love spending time with our grandson Ollie, whose now nearly 6 months. He is such a happy baby, always smiling and making cute baby gurgles and giggles. His mum and I took him into town and I did my nannie duties and spoiled him with some gorgeous summer clothes! Below are some pics I took of him yesterday, isn't he so cuddly? OK I had better stop cos I could go on about him all day! Today I made these flapjacks from one of my new cookbooks that I had not used until now, Baking Made Easy by Lorraine Pascale. I haven't baked flapjacks for such a long time and the addition of lemon zest and ginger gave these a different angle. They turned out to be just as I'd hoped, typically chewy but with a refreshing burst of flavour! Next on my list to bake from this cookbook will be the Cookies and Cream Fudge Brownies, how amazing do they sound??

Flapjacks

Makes 12
Ingredients
175g butter
175g golden syrup
175g muscovado sugar
350g porridge oats
finely grated zest of ½ lemon
pinch of ground ginger

Preheat the oven to 150oC/fan oven 130oC/Gas mark 2. Line a 20cm/8in square baking tin with baking paper.

Melt the butter in a medium pan over a low heat. Dip a brush in the butter and brush the baking tin with a little bit of it. Add the golden syrup and sugar to the butter and heat gently. Once the sugar is dissolved and the butter is melted remove the pan from the heat and stir in the porridge oats, lemon zest and ginger.

Pack the mixture into the baking tin and squash down. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes.

Once cooked, remove from the oven, leave to cool for 15 minutes, then turn out on to a chopping board and cut into squares.