Walnut and White Chocolate Brownies

I don’t mean to brag, but I just ate a bowl of extra fudgy, rich and gooey brownies with bits of walnuts and white chocolate for breakfast.

And by a bowl, I mean an entire tray. I don’t know how it happened, but life is too short and I love brownies. #sorrynotsorry!

I have to confess. I am a frustrating combination of a foodie with a stubborn shade. When I get an idea of something I want to cook, I get an unhealthy obsession to make it happen right away.

One minute I’m in the kitchen minding my own business thinking about breakfast ideas, and the next – I’m smelling a glorious chocolaty aroma coming from my oven. I think I must black out, when my brain takes over, and apparently my body seems to follow because before I’m aware of anything brownies are almost done.

Everyone has a favorite brownie recipe. There are so many homemade favorites! But today I’ll show you how to make chewy, fudgy homemade brownies from scratch using my secret ingredient and method. In my dessert loving world, a brownie should be three things: chewy, fudgy and homemade.

That’s right, no store-bought box mixes and no dark chocolate. Chocolate chips? No sir! Leave those for your favorite chocolate chip cookies. Just a really easy method which involves creating a chocolate base using cocoa powder, butter and heavy cream.

I love walnuts and incorporated them into the batter as well. There’s still at least a couple of pounds of walnuts in my pantry, which I brought from my recent trip to Ukraine. Walnuts are growing on trees everywhere you look in Ukraine. Also, there may have been chunks of white chocolate in the batter, just because it makes brownies even more crazy indulgent and ridiculously scrumptious. But if you have different kind of nuts or would like to add your favorite fruit, Just do what you need to do.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter

1 cup heavy cream

8 tbsp good quality cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

1/2 cup flour

2 eggs

1 cup walnuts

1/2 cup white chocolate, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 F and toast the walnuts for 10-15 minutes or until you start smelling their wonderful aroma. Grease a 9-inch square baking dish with a little butter or oil and set aside.

Melt the butter in a pan over low heat and add cocoa powder, sugar and cream. Stir until melted and smooth. Then sift the flour into the pan and add eggs and vanilla. Gently stir until combined. Add toasted walnuts and white chocolate into the batter.

Pour the batter into the baking dish and bake in the centre of your oven for 30 mins. Leave brownies to cool completely, before slicing.

These walnut and white chocolate brownies should keep well in an airtight container for about a week; if they last this long 😉