Chocolate and Nut Brownies with a Salted Pretzel Base

I got the recipe for the pretzel base of these brownies from a friend at work who's an amazing baker, and the brownie topping is my go-to brownie recipe - always delicious and very versatile; add whatever combination of chocolate pieces and nuts you want. If you like salted caramel you'll love these! They are totally worth the two step process, and a great twist on a classic.

Chocolate and Nut Brownies with a Salted Pretzel Base

Makes 24 pieces

Blitzed pretzels

Ingredients:

Pretzel Base:

65g plain flour

150g salted pretzels

100g dark brown sugar

100g unsalted butter

125g golden syrup

Brownie Topping:

250g chocolate (a mixture of dark and milk, depending on what you prefer)

250g unsalted butter

4 large eggs

175g dark Muscavado sugar

Pretzel base before baking

1 tsp vanilla extract

75g plain flour

0.25tsp baking powder

1 tbsp cocoa powder

200g chopped nuts (I used pecans and hazelnuts)

100g chopped chocolate (again; dark, milk or white chocolate)

Pinch of salt

Oven at 180oC fan/190oC electric

Method:

1. Blitz the pretzels in a food processor, or crush the end of a rolling pin, then add the flour and mix together.

2. In a pan over a medium heat, mix the butter sugar and syrup in a pan and stir until the butter has melted and everything is combined.

3. Add to the pretzels to the butter mix and mix together until combined.

Baked base

4. Press the mix into a lined and greased baking tray and bake in the centre of a preheated oven at 180oC for 10-15 mins.

5. Whilst the base is baking make the brownies; heat the butter and 250g of chocolate over a bain marie until smooth.

6. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, Muscavado sugar and vanilla extract. Whisk until the mix is pale and thick.

7. To the egg mix, add the flour, cocoa, baking powder, chopped nuts and chocolate and salt. Stir gently until smooth.

8. Once it’s cooled slightly, carefully add the melted butter and chocolate to the egg and flour mix, taking care not over mix or the chocolate will seize and go grainy.

Egg Mix

9. Once the pretzel base is cooked, pour the brownie mix over the top and return to the oven for a further 20-25 minutes.

10. To test the brownie use a skewer or sharp knife; you want to take the brownies out of the oven when the skewer comes out slightly dirty still, so your brownies will still be fudgy once they’ve cooled.

11. Once baked leave to cool and set in the tin. Cut into 24 pieces and serve - they're great warm out of the oven with vanilla ice cream...

Ready for the oven!

These will keep for 3 or 4 days in an airtight container, but they definitely won’t hang around long enough for you to find that out!

Happy Baking!

The Baking Ginger xx

Pretzel Brownie Stack for Mum's Birthday :)

Salted Nutella Cookies

These are another bake I've invented based around Kate's love of Nutella...

They're dead easy - only 5 ingredients, no chilling time and a dozen gorgeous cookies at the end, what more could you ask for??

I only added the salt to half of the cookies, as it was a bit of an experiment, but it worked really well so I'd definitely recommend adding it to the top of each cookies, although if you're not keen they're still delish without!

Ready for the oven - they're so easy!

Salted Nutella Cookies

Makes 12

Ingredients

300g Nutella

2tbsp any sugar (brown sugar makes cookies chewier)

1 egg (beaten)

65g plain flour

50g chocolate chips (I used half white chocolate, half milk chocolate)

Optional: 12 small pinches of salt (sea salt flakes work best)

170oC fan oven/180oC all other ovens

Baked and ready for eating up!

Method

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly until everything is incorporated.

2. Use your hands to roll walnut size pieces of dough into balls and squash down slightly onto a lined baking tray. Place the dough balls with at least 2 inches between them as they spread a lot whilst cooking.

3. If you're going to add salt, put a small pinch onto of each cookie now.

4. Bake in the centre of a preheated oven for 10 minutes - don't worry if they still look a bit raw in the middle when you take them out, this will mean they're gooey and chewy once they've cooled!

5. Leave to cool slightly, but these are definitely beset enjoyed warm out of the oven. If there's any left they'll keep for 2-3 days in an air tight container.

These are so easy, quick and delicious, you've really got to try them!

Happy Baking,

The Baking Ginger xx