Just Bee's Perfect Honey Chocolate Brownies
Have you ever been frustrated with brownie recipes you've tried before? Often they can turn out too dark and bitter or too sweet and sickly. Sometimes they are just too heavy and rich to really enjoy after a meal. Our honey chocolate brownies balance all the recipe elements to create the perfect brownie that is spectacularly delicious, easy to make, and can be whipped up in well under an hour!
These have been tested on many of our friends and family and everyone agrees that they are some of the best brownies they've ever had... seriously. People will be stunned and amazed that you made them yourself!
Just when you thought things couldn't get any better, under the main recipe you'll find instructions on how to make our Festive Honey Chocolate Brownie Bites. With just a few simple changes you can also create an unashamedly indulgent festive nibble to pass around with drinks over the Christmas period.
To Make Perfect Honey Chocolate Brownies you will need:
- 135g Unsalted Butter
- 120g Just Bee Original Honey (or whichever flavour you prefer)
- 100g Granulated Sugar
- 2 tsp of Vanilla Extract
- 2 Large Eggs
- 90g Plain Flour
- 90g Cocoa Powder
- ½ tsp Salt
- 60g Chocolate Chips
A medium sized saucepan
A large mixing bowl
A silicon spatula
A hand whisk
A sieve for sifting the flour
A baking tin around 22cm (9 inches) square
Non-stick baking paper
This recipe will make 16 Brownies
Time to make and bake: Around 40-45 minutes
Step One: Be prepared!
Fully line your tin with baking paper. You can fold the bottom corners and cut through the corner top edges to make it fit better, but don't worry too much as the brownie mix will push it out to the sides. Just push it in the best you can, we can trim around the top before we put it in the oven if we need to.
Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4 or 170c (160c for a fan assisted oven.) It won't take long to make the brownie mixture, so don't delay or forget!
Step Two: To the hob!
Using a low heat, put the butter and honey into the saucepan, stirring gently until the butter has melted.
Add the cocoa powder and stir in until you end up with a smooth gloopy chocolate goo! Remove from the heat and put aside to cool off a little.
(Top Tip! Cut the butter into smaller chunks before adding to the pan, it will speed up the melting process)
Step Three: Mixing Time!
Add the sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt to your mixing bowl and give it a good whisk for a couple of minutes until well combined, then add the chocolate goo from the saucepan and mix it in with the spatula until combined.
Sift the flour over the mixture and mix that in with the spatula. You may see the odd little bit of flour that has lumped together in the mixture but don't worry about it, they will absorb the butter and honey in the mixture and once baked they will turn into delicious crunchy little bits of shortbread-like biscuit!
Throw in the chocolate chips, give it a quick mix in and we are done!
Step Four: Baking Time!
Pour the mixture into the centre of the tin. The silicon spatula will be an invaluable friend again in both persuading the gloop into the tin and getting every last bit of it out of the bowl. Once it's all in the tin, use the spatula to spread it out as evenly as you can.
You can trim any excess baking paper now if needed, just leave a little poking up above the edge of the tin as it will help with removal later. Pop the tin into the oven on the middle shelf and bake the brownies for 20 minutes.
Step Five: Almost there!
After 20 minutes take the tray out of the oven, the brownies should be just firm to the touch and starting to pull away from the edges of the tin. I've never had to adjust the cooking time with these but due to the variation in ovens if they don't appear to be cooked pop them back in for a few minutes longer and keep an eye on them.
Once cooked leave the brownies to cool for around 20 minutes in the tin.
Remove the brownies from the tin by lifting the whole slab with the edges of the baking paper, if you have an extra pair of hands around even better as you can lift from all four sides at once, then just pop it onto the side or large cutting board.
With a sharp knife, cut the brownies into 16, ready to serve on their own, with cream, ice-cream, or even custard!
If you have any left over after eating, once cooled your brownies can be stored quite happily at room temperature for 4-5 days in an airtight container, although we have a feeling they won't last that long!
Festive Honey Chocolate Brownie Bites
These delicious little treats are made with almost exactly the same recipe as above with just a couple of differences.
Replace:
- 120g Just Bee Original Honey - with 120g of Just Bee Valencia Orange Honey
- 60g Chocolate Chips - with 40g of broken walnut pieces and 40g of dried cranberries.
The method to make and bake these is exactly the same as the regular brownies, so just follow along and use the replacement ingredients instead. Once baked, cut into inch sized square pieces for a bite sized festive delight!