Food with JP passion: The nirvana of brownies

John Paul Kennedy is a self-taught cook from Tallaght whose passion for family cooking came from his two grandmothers. 

Who doesn’t love a good brownie? 

All cooks should have a go-to brownie recipe and this is one that will never let you down!

Serve with whipped cream or ice-cream

The smells as they bake are just incredible and they will keep in an airtight container for up to four days, not that I expect they will last that long.

Even if I am not baking these for an occasion, such as Friday treats for my work colleagues, I often like to bake a batch to have for my evening treat post supper with a nice cup of tea.

So go on, what are you waiting for? Try this recipe out and treat yourself to pure chocolate heaven. To me they are the nirvana of brownies. 

Ingredients:

180g dark chocolate melted (70% cocoa)

I always used Lindt excellence chocolate bars! 75g cocoa powder – Bournville is the best!

225g unsalted butter

350g castor sugar

65g plain flour

1tsp vanilla extract

100g dark chocolate chips

100g white chocolate chips

1 tsp baking powder

4 eggs beaten

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees and line a baking tray with baking parchment paper.

2. Place the chocolate and butter in a bowl over simmering water to melt and combine. Once melted set aside to cool slightly. Important that you simmer on a low to medium heat.

3. In a separate large mixing bowl add the sugar and beaten eggs and mix until pale and fluffy. I used my standalone mixer for this.

4. Combine the flour, baking powder and cocoa together and mix through with a fork.

5. Add the melted butter and chocolate to the eggs and sugar mixture then add in the dry ingredients.

6. Add the beaten eggs and vanilla extract and mix until you have a smooth molten dark batter.

7. Fold in the chocolate chips and mix until evenly distributed throughout the batter.

8. Place into a baking tray lined with baking parchment.

9. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

10. Brownie should not be over baked, it should be still slightly gooey in the middle. Remove the brownies from the baking tin and allow to cool completely before portioning.

11. Dust with icing sugar and serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice-cream and enjoy!