Chocolate Crumble Brownies

Chocolate Crumble Brownies (For 9 persons)

Ingredients for the brownies

130g margarine

70g butter (unsalted)

150g white sugar

100g brown sugar

120g flour

60g cocoa powder (refer photo step 1 - I use 'Beryl' brand)

2g salt

3 small eggs

10ml vanilla essence

20cm x 20cm baking pan

Ingredients for the crumble topping

60g flour

20g icing sugar

10g cocoa powder

1g salt

35g butter (unsalted)

Procedure

Step 1 (Making the brownies): Weight and mix your flour, cocoa powder and salt. Put aside for use in step 4.

Step 2: In a bowl, add your margarine and butter and place them in the microwave on high for about 30-45 seconds or until they are completely melted.

Step 3: To your sugar (white + brown), add your melted margarine/butter mixture .

Step 4: Then add your cocoa/flour/salt mixture from step 1 and using your spatula, gently mix all ingredients together just until combined. Do not overmix !

Tip: It is very important not to overmix any cake batter (unless you are doing a sponge cake ) including brownies firstly to avoid adding too much air into the batter which would cause large cracks to form when baking and secondly to avoid activating/ creating too much gluten which would cause your brownies to have a rubbery texture instead of a soft and crumbly texture !.

Step 5: In a bowl, add your eggs and vanilla essence and give them a quick mix !

Step 6: Add your egg/ vanilla mixture to your chocolate mixture from step 4 and gently mix everything together using your spatula, again just until combined. Do not overmix (See previous tip ).

Step 7: Transfer your now ready chocolate brownie batter in a 20cm x 20cm baking pan lined with parchment paper !

Step 8 (Crumble topping): In a bowl, add your flour, cocoa powder, icing sugar and salt and give them a quick mix. Once combined, add in your butter .

Step 9: Mix all together using the tip of your fingers to create a crumbly mixture as shown below (left) and spread this mixture evenly on your brownie batter !

Step 10: Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 25-30 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted in the center. Images below show before (left) and after (right) baking respectively. Hot hot hot !

Note: Most cracks (if they are not large cracks) will almost disappear when the cake will cool down after baking ...