A Chocolate Walnut Treat!

As the lockdown has prevailed for the last one and a half years, gyms and parks have been closed and everyone is busy with their online lives. The world is shifting to become fit day by day. Every time I sit back on my couch, I miss my childhood days during the long summer holidays, when I could eat whatever I wanted, especially chocolate! I so miss out on the family gatherings, friend outings, and long relaxing weekends where dessert was the only food. I always have a small empty space kept for those occasions, which can not happen now. I am sure you too would feel the same. I don’t know about you, but I love chocolate and can be called the "Princess of Brownies".

A Brownie a day, keeps the frownies away!!

It is interesting to say how brownies originated. The first time they appeared in the form of a word in a recipe was back in the 20th Century. Fany Farmer, who in 1905, tried and tested out her chocolate cookie recipe as a bar cookie baked in a rectangular pan. I like how people back then loved chocolate just as much as I do now.Chocolate should become a universal currency! What could be more enjoyable than biting into a piece of the chocolate devil with the goodness of walnuts? (Indian mothers, in particular, will not mind having walnuts this way!)

For years, I couldn’t find the perfect recipe on how to make chocolate walnut brownies. I always wanted them to be the way my grandmother used to make them back when I was a kid-super fudgy, chocolaty, soft, crispy edges and loaded with walnuts!! Walnuts add that crunch to the flavour and are way cooler, healthier, and even more nutritious (compensating for all the chocolate!)

To limit my sugar intake but still be able to eat my favorite, I tried a lot of recipes here and there but all failed. Some were too hard to bite in, some were too moist. A few recipes too had a lot of sugar or butter to be added. Being a fitness freak myself, I had to try a lot of variations, keeping my health in mind. I tried a few brownie recipes and added and subtracted ingredients, and have been using this same recipe on loop every time I crave brownies!! Trust me, you want to make them and eat them right now!

But before that, let me give you an analysis of the nutrients per piece of brownie contains:

NAME	WEIGHT
Proteins	3 grams
Fat	11 grams
Carbohydrates	20 grams
Fiber	2 grams

The total calorie intake with one piece of brownie is 187 calories.

Recipe:

Let’s make some healthy and tasty walnut brownies!!

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Course: Dessert

Serves 10 people

Ingredients:

1. Two eggs

2. 100 grams salted butter (from the Amul butter pack)

3. ¾ cup Maida (all purpose flour) or Wheat Flour

4. Vanilla essence

5. ¾ cup powder sugar (optional) or jaggery

6. 250 grams cooking chocolate or dark chocolate

7. A smattering of walnuts

8. A big pinch of Baking Powder

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 Celsius. Grease the container with butter if you are using one, be it a baking tray or dish, OR carefully place and align parchment paper on the container or dish and spray it with cooking spray.

2. Melt the butter and chocolate in a separate bowl and heat for 1 minute in the microwave, stirring or mixing well with a spoon.Both butter and chocolate can be microwaved for more than a minute, until the batter becomes liquid and ready to beat. Ensure that you mix the chocolate well time and again to avoid hard pieces of chocolate.

3. Start whisking the 2 eggs, after 5 minutes of proper whisking add vanilla essence and add sugar. Beat the batter till the colour of the batter turns light.

4. Now add butter to the beated batter alongside the melted chocolate.

5. Add the sieved baking powder and Maida (all purpose flour) to the mix and beat both together.

6. Add small or big pieces of walnut according to your need.

7. Pour the mix in the greased container and spread it evenly.

8. Bake at 180 Celsius for only 15 to 20 minutes else it will burn.

9. Carefully take out the container containing brownie, with either a glove or cloth in hand.

10. Cut the brownie into proper square pieces and enjoy eating!

P.S Serve with Vanilla Ice Cream and ENJOY! But don't forget to burn those extra calories you had today!

Note:

When these brownies come out of the oven, they'll be super gooey in the middle. Allow them to cool completely, before you slice into them to give them a chance to set up. They'll continue to firm up the longer they're out of the oven.

I have suggested alternatives to a couple of ingredients. You could try them too. And have the perfect recipe on how to make chocolate walnut brownies!!