Hairy Bikers chocolate brownies, which they call Biker brownies, use 70% dark chocolate, butter and chopped hazelnuts, plus optional spoonfuls of chocolate spread. And with the British Classics recipe you get 12 at about 505 calories each, ready in about 1 hour 50 minutes by my reckoning.
“Fudgy and fantastic” is how Si and Dave sum them up, after calling them “pimped up with choc spread and hazelnuts”. Where their One Pot Wonders brownies melt butter, sugar and cocoa together, these beat the butter and sugar light before the chocolate goes in.
Knowing when to take them out matters most, which is why Si and Dave test after 25 minutes of a 30-minute bake. Then the skewer should carry a few crumbs, because wet means they need longer, while I’d read a spotless one as overbaked and less fudgy.
Hairy Bikers Chocolate Brownies Recipe
Description
Melted dark chocolate is beaten into butter and sugar whipped light with eggs, then the flour and cocoa are stirred in stages. And chopped hazelnuts go through the batter and over the top, with optional spoonfuls of spread and liqueur.
Ingredients
For the brownies
For the hazelnut paste (optional)
Instructions
- Heat and line: Heat the oven to 170°C/Fan 150°C/Gas 3½. Then line a 30 x 20cm straight-sided brownie tin with foil or non-stick baking paper.
- Sift and melt: Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder into a bowl with a good pinch of salt. Then melt 250g of the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over barely simmering water, stirring regularly, without letting the bowl touch the water.
- Chop the rest: Once the chocolate has melted, take the bowl off and leave it to cool slightly. Meanwhile, roughly chop the remaining 50g of chocolate.
- Cream and combine: Beat the butter and sugar together until very light and fluffy, which I find far easier with soft butter. Then add the eggs one at a time, pour in the melted chocolate and mix thoroughly.
- Add the flour: Stir in a third of the flour mixture, then add the rest the same way. Once it’s combined, add half the hazelnuts and all the chopped chocolate, then scrape the mixture into the tin.
- Add the hazelnut paste: If using, mix the chocolate spread and hazelnut liqueur into a smooth paste. Then make little wells in the batter and drop in spoonfuls of the paste.
- Bake: Sprinkle over the remaining hazelnuts and press them down lightly. Then bake for about 30 minutes, testing after 25, until a skewer comes out with a few crumbs attached, neither wet nor completely clean. And I test away from the pockets of paste, since those stay wet.
- Cool and cut: Leave the brownies to cool in the tin, then chill them overnight if you can bear to wait. Cut into 12 squares or triangles and store them in an airtight tin.
FAQs
Why chill them overnight before cutting?
Si and Dave say a night in the fridge helps them “settle into a consistency that isn’t too cake-like”. Though in the tip with their BBC Food version, they add that brownies cut straight away still improve after a day or two.
Three of their other brownies suggest the same chill, namely the Biscoff, the double-decker, and the prune, coffee and walnut. So I bake them the day before I need them, then cut them straight from the fridge.
Can I leave out the chocolate spread and liqueur?
Yes, Si and Dave mark both as optional, and without them you get a plain dark chocolate and hazelnut brownie. And if you only have the spread, I’d still drop it into the wells on its own, though that’s my tweak.
And if you like that hazelnut liqueur, their flourless chocolate hazelnut cake can take Frangelico in the cake and is spread with Nutella.
Which chocolate and cocoa should I use?
Si and Dave ask for dark chocolate with at least 70% cocoa solids, and I wouldn’t go lower. Since 250g of sugar already goes in, I’d expect a sweeter, lower-cocoa bar to make them cloying.
And use proper cocoa powder rather than drinking chocolate, as they insist for their chocolate cake from Everyday Winners. But for a topping where any bar will do, their millionaire’s shortbread from Mums Know Best simply asks for 150g of your favourite chocolate.
What other brownies do they make?
In Brilliant Bakes, their Biscoff brownies sit on a layer of Biscoff biscuits, with spoonfuls of the spread swirled into the top. And they’re strict about layering butter, sugar, chocolate and cocoa in that order before melting, admitting “Yes, we’re bossy”. And for something more American, their Route 66 sweet potato brownies come packed with pecans, bourbon-soaked raisins and maple-glazed sweet potato chunks.
Meanwhile, for double-decker brownies in Everyday Winners, they pour a batter with rum-soaked raisins over chocolate biscuits and push in soft nougat. And in Our Family Favourites, each prune, coffee and walnut brownie hides a brandy-soaked prune. And on TV, in Best of British, they made cherry pecan brownies packed with dark and white chocolate chunks and dried sour cherries.
How do I serve and store them?
They suggest one with a cup of tea in front of the telly, or warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. So if mine are chilled, I give a square 10 seconds or so in the microwave before the ice cream goes on.
There’s no keeping time given for these, though their double-decker brownies last “up to a week” in a tin. So I keep them cut in the airtight tin at room temperature, aiming to eat them within 4 or 5 days.
