Jaffa Nut Brownies

Make these as a treat for yourself, or to give away! Their rich texture and chocolate orange flavour makes them very popular.

Ingredients

For an 18 x 28cm brownie:

100g butter

75g dark cooking chocolate

2 large eggs

¾ cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

zest of 1 orange

½ cup chopped walnuts

½ cup standard (plain) flour

Method

➊Preheat the oven to 180°C (170°C fanbake), with the rack just below the middle. Line the base and sides of an 18 x 28cm pan with baking paper.

➋Cube butter and break chocolate into pieces. Put both into a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 2 minutes on Medium (50% power), or warm in a medium sized pot over low heat, until butter has melted and the chocolate softened.

Remove from heat and stir until smooth and combined.

➌Add eggs, sugar, vanilla essence, orange zest and chopped nuts and stir until well mixed. Sift in flour and fold together, but do not over-mix. Spread the mixture into the prepared pan.

➍Bake for about 15 minutes or until the centre feels firm when pressed. (Don’t worry if the sides rise more than the centre.) Cool, then cut into pieces of the desired size.

➎Serve dusted lightly with sieved icing sugar, in larger pieces for dessert with whipped cream or ice-cream, or in smaller pieces with tea or coffee. Store in an airtight container in a cool place, for up to five days.

Reproduced from The Complete Home Baking Collection by Simon & Alison Holst, published by Hyndman Publishing, RRP$45.00, available nationwide.