Procrastibake: Fully Loaded Brownies

If you like your brownies cut like cake, tasting and acting like cake... then unfortunately these brownies are not for you. If you are counting calories, syns or points, again sadly, these are not for you. But, if you are partial to paddling in the pool of pure profligacy, using up your leftover Easter Chocolate in one foul swoop.. then these guys are for you! Huzzah!!

I shared this post a few months back over on The Taste but feel like they could help those of you staring down the endless bag of Easter Eggs, praying they'll just disappear.

Starting with a rich, dark chocolate fudge brownie base and topping it with melted marshmallow, crunchy pretzels and salted peanuts, these are the ultimate in junk food. To finish off, the toppings are drizzled in a soft-set caramel sauce. These brownies are not for the faint hearted. They contain pretty much no nutritional value, but honestly I don't even think that matters.

They won’t take you long to make and an even shorter time to eat! The brownies alone are pretty special but combined with garnishes they exude versatility, allowing you to change up the toppings to suit your own junk food style.

The Brownie Batter

75g good coco powder

120g self-raising flour

¼ tsp of salt

½ tsp baking powder

150g butter

175g good quality chocolate

2 eggs

400g caster sugar

125ml boiling water

Toppings

200g mini marshmallow

125g broken pretzels

65g salted peanuts

The Caramel Sauce

125g butter

180g light brown sugar

200ml double cream

Preheat your oven to 350F, 180C (160C fan) or Gas Mark 4. Grease and line a 9x13’ pan with some parchment/greaseproof paper.

Sift the coco, flour, salt and baking powder together.

In a separate bowl, melt the butter and chocolate together. You can do this in the microwave or over a pot of boiling water on the stove. Add the sugar and the eggs to the melted butter chocolate combination and mix until combined. Add the vanilla, mix.

Add the wet mix to the dry mix and pour in the boiling water. Mix until fully combined. Pour the batter into the prepared dish and bake for 25-30 minutes in a preheated oven.

Make the Caramel Sauce while the batter is baking. Add the butter and sugar to a pot and allow them to melt and come together over a medium heat, stirring often so the mix does not burn. Remove from the heat and add the cream, stirring vigorously until all incorporated. Put the pot back on the heat, allow the sauce to come to the boil and then transfer the sauce to a heat proof bowl to cool.

About 5 minutes before you think your brownies will be done, take them out of the oven. Cover the top completely in the mini marshmallows and pop the pan back in the oven for 5-7 minutes, or until the marshmallow has melted.

Remove the pan from oven, stand on a wire cooling rack and sprinkle the crushed pretzels and peanuts over the melty marshmallow. Squash them down a little, being careful not to burn your fingers.

Finally drizzle the cooled caramel sauce all over the toppings and allow the whole thing to stand in the baking pan, on the wire rack for at least 30 minutes (ideally longer, if you can wait!)