Easy Peasy Peanut Butter Jelly Baby Brownies!

Hello Again!

Before we get on with this weeks recipe I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who has "liked", "shared", Re-tweeted and read my blogs so far, and especially those people who have actually cooked some of the dishes. I've had almost 3000 views in total already from places as surprising as Poland, New Zealand and quite a few in America!
I'm told, by people who know about these things, that that's pretty good going. I'm going to try and set up an actual "Mats 'Da' Chef" Facebook page so you can post pictures of your finished dishes and also so I can answer any questions you may have. Thanks again!

Right then, I'm betting that this weeks title has already got your taste buds tingling so lets get on with it shall we?

Peanut Butter Jelly Baby Brownies.

 

Equipment:

 1 Measuring jug, either plastic or glass.

Kitchen scales.

1 mixing bowl.

Baking tray approx 11"x 5"x 2" deep.

Wire cooling rack.

Greaseproof paper or cooking liner ( A cooking liner is best, you can get them from bargain shops like Pound land, Home Bargains or B&M and they are cheap, washable and re-usable.)

Ingredients:

200g of good quality 70% cocoa chocolate.

175g of butter.

325g of caster sugar.

130g of plain flour.

4 medium eggs.

approx 150g of jelly babies. ( I like to use Asda's own brand, you can get them in little bags and they're smaller and firmer than Bassetts ones, which makes them ideal for
this recipe. )

2 good tablespoons of crunchy peanut butter.

Method: 

Pre heat the oven to 160 degrees c/ gas mark 3
Break the chocolate up into rough chunks, cut your butter up and put both in the measuring jug. Set your microwave to its lowest setting and pop the chocolate and butter in for about 5 minutes. You want the butter and chocolate to melt together slowly and with as little heat as possible.
After 5 minutes remove the jug from the microwave and stir together, if the chocolate is still not melted put back in the microwave for another couple of minutes, until you can mix them together into a smooth sauce.

Pour the sauce into your mixing bowl and add the sugar, mix together until everything is combined. You should now have a slightly grainy chocolaty base. 










 



Add the flour to the bowl and mix in thoroughly. (Don't beat it too hard, you just want to get the flour combined with the base.)

 
  








 







Now crack your eggs straight into the bowl and mix in until you have a smooth batter.

Now drop in two tablespoons of peanut butter.

To get a nice swirl of peanut butter through the batter don't mix it in, just drag a spoon through it so you get a nice marbling effect.









 

Now grab your baking tray and rub it all over 

with butter. ( I find that a knob on the butter wrapper is the best way to do this.)
Then put your cooking liner or greaseproof paper into the tin and smooth it down so it sticks to the buttered tin on the bottom and the sides. 
Don't worry too much about the liner or 
greaseproof paper sticking up over the edge of the tin, in fact, this will make it easier
to turn out when your brownie is baked.

Then, just to be on the safe side, give the
liner or greaseproof a rub over with butter too.

When the tray is ready pour or spoon your brownie batter into the tin and give it a gentle couple of taps on the work surface.
There's no need to smooth the surface over as it will
level out when baking.




Lastly, drop your jelly babies onto the surface of the brownie. Try and space them out a little so when you cut the brownie up each portion will have a
 lovely sticky fruity burst of jelly baby goo.
















Now, you're ready to bake!

Put the brownie in the oven on the bottom shelf. If you have an electric oven like mine, with a heating element in the top of the oven, put a flat tray on the shelf above the brownie to protect the top from burning before the rest of it is baked through.
 Bake for 40 minutes. You can take the protective baking
 tray off the shelf above after about 20 minutes.
Once the time is up, remove the brownie from the oven. It should have risen a little and sound hollow when you tap the bottom of the tin. The jelly babies should have sunk into the brownie.

Leave the brownie in the tin to cool for about 30 minutes then place a chopping board or large flat baking sheet on top of it. Turn the brownie, in the tin, so that the chopping board or large flat baking sheet is now on the bottom. Don't be tempted to shake or tap the brownie out of the tin, it will come out in its own good time and, if you've buttered and lined the tin correctly, will not stick to the baking tin.

When the brownie has released, remove the baking tin. Now you can carefully take off the cooking liner or greaseproof. be aware that the jelly babies will make the bottom of the brownie very sticky. Remove the liner or greaseproof VERY slowly. If, when you are peeling it off, it starts to tear the brownie stop and try again in a different place. With a cooking liner this should be quite easy. With greaseproof don't worry too much if the paper tears a little, as you can remove any stray bits when its a bit cooler, or slice them off with a sharp knife after.
Allow the brownie to cool a bit more upside down on the chopping board or baking sheet.The middle of it may look a little under done but that's OK as it will firm up as it cools and will give a lovely fudgey texture to it.

Once you are happy that your brownie is fully cooled ( you can pop it in the fridge for half an hour if you like.) Put the cooling rack on the bottom side of the brownie and turn it over to remove the baking sheet. then you can cut it up into portions. I usually get about 16-20 portions from one. They will keep in the fridge in a sealable tub for up to 5 days.

Well, that's it then for this week. I hope you enjoyed it!

My next recipe blog should be published next week, keep an eye out for it! Also in a few weeks I'm going to be doing a full menu recipe blog with all the timings as well!  Until next time then.

Happy cooking!

 

Mat.