Hot Cross Brownies
Recipe and images by Julie Le Clerc
You only need one bowl to make these fudgy chocolate brownies with shiny crackly tops. Biscoff spread is a creamy spread with a unique caramelised, spiced biscuit flavour. It melts easily and smoothly so makes a great alternative to traditional icing.
Makes 10
125g butter, melted and slightly cooled
½ cup caster sugar
½ cup packed soft brown sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
¼ tsp fine salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
½ cup plain flour
½ cup cocoa powder
200g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
⅓ cup Biscoff spread, to decorate
Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-bake). Spray 10 individual 100ml capacity cake tins – or use 10 holes of a standard muffin tin.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the melted butter and both sugars until the sugar has dissolved. Stir in the eggs, salt and vanilla to combine. Sift in the flour and cocoa and stir until just combined. Gently stir in the chopped chocolate.
Spoon the mixture into the cake tins, dividing it evenly. Bake for 20–25 minutes on the middle rack in the oven until just set to the touch – this will give the brownies a fudgy texture. Allow to cool in the tins for 20 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Melt the Biscoff spread only briefly so that it’s a spreadable consistency (you don’t want it to be runny or it will be hard to pipe) then put it in a piping bag fitted with a small plain nozzle and use to pipe crosses on top of the brownies.