Lunch Box Surprise: Sludgy Fudgy Brownies (Eggless)- The Most Basic & Best Brownie Recipe Of Mine

One of my signature recipes & my favourite ones too, would be the chocolate fudge brownie. I have been trying to develop a good recipe for this one and have had to consult so many websites on the Internet. One thing, I found is that it is very important to replace the egg in this recipe, because the egg and the sugar react to create a meringue of its own, and it becomes a crispy layer on top. In an eggless brownie, it is difficult to achieve that, and speaking from experience, we can actually achieve something not exactly the same, but similar. While it may not be so important to use melted chocolate in the original brownie (with egg), it is actually vital to do so in this one.

Also, an eggless brownie is a bit more crumbly and soft. I will post more about good eggless brownies in the tips below. Meanwhile, please see the Youtube video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=908s40ReOhc

Ingredients:
Dry Ingredients:
100g (about less than 1/2 cup) all purpose flour
80g-90g (about 6-8 large tbsp) cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
100g icing sugar


Wet Ingredients
50g (about 1/2 cup) butter, melted
50g brown sugar
80g (about 1/3 cup) chocolate chips
100g (about 1/2 cup) yoghurt*
3/4 tsp vanilla essence
2-3 tbsp cold milk (to thin batter)


Extras:
60g (about 1/4 cup) chocolate chips
45g (about 3 tbsp) walnuts, chopped



METHOD
1. Preheat your oven to either of these temperatures:
Normal Oven (Celsius): 180 deg
Normal Oven (Fahrenheit): 350 deg
Gas Mark: 4
Fan oven (Celsius): 160 deg
Fan oven (Fahrenheit): 329 deg

Grease a square cake pan

2. In a mixing bowl, sift all your dry ingredients and blend together.

3. In a saucepan, add boiling water and place  a glass bowl or another small dish. Add your chocolate chips to the dish and melt it till sticky and smooth. Keep aside.

4. In another mixing bowl, beat together your butter, yoghurt, melted chocolate and brown sugar, till creamy and well combined.

5. Add your dry ingredients at once to the wet ingredients. Keep blending well. If too thick, then add your milk.

6.  Add vanilla essence and fold in your 60g chocolate chips and walnuts.

7. Pour batter into your prepared cake pan and bake for about 10-20 mins (KEEP AN EYE ON IT- remember, every oven differs).

8. Cool and cut into square pieces.

9. Ways to serve:
- Warm or sizzling with vanilla ice-cream & chocolate sauce (little melted chocolate/Nutella with milk)
- Frosted with M&M's
- Cold & plain with fresh milk, or hot coffee, tea or hot chocolate
- Naughty Brownies... See recipe below :P


Tips:
1) Eggless brownies are generally more crumbly or moist compared to normal brownies. Remember not to overbake it. If you prefer a crispy layer on top only, then you need to have it cold.

2) When sizzling, take care not to overheat it.

3) Melted butter is best, as it becomes easier to incorporate with the wet ingredients.

4) Sift the dry ingredients only once, as it is not airiness we are looking for. Add them all at once, as it's not a cake, so we don't desire a soft consistency as much.

5) You can omit the nuts if you feel like. For gluten free & vegan brownies, head to this link:

6) Naughty Brownie Recipe:
- This is known by another name, but I can't use that since this blog is for families.

Brownie batter as per the above recipe
12-15 pcs Oreo cookies (or chocolate & cream filled cookies of your choice)
1 package Betty Crocker cookie mix (prepare this by adding 110g butter & replacement for 1 egg- 1 tbsp ground flax seed & 1 tbsp water)

All you have to do is press the cookie dough to the bottom of your cake pan, top with Oreo cookies and pour brownie batter on top. Bake this for about 15-20 mins & there you have it... Naughty Brownies :P