When I was a student starting placement as a dietitian, I was keen to quickly jump straight into it. This meant teaching everyone on all the healthier alternatives they could be having:
• Having butter on your toast? Why not try a vegetable based spread?
• Drinking coffees with regular milk? Swap it for skim!
• Burger for lunch? How about a sandwich?
Of course, most didn’t take on the advice.
After all, not everyone is passionate about their health. But slowly I learnt that that’s okay because in the grand scheme of things one or two less than ideal food choices isn’t going to make a big difference to your overall health.
In other words, whilst skim may be a better option than full fat milk, but hey, if you’re not trying to lose weight and you don’t have high cholesterol levels to worry about it is okay to have it a glass or two a day!
So if you’re wondering why I’m posting a full fat regular brownie recipe and not a ‘healthier’ version today, it’s because it’s perfectly fine to have an unhealthy treat from time to time. Yes, having the additional fibre, the reduced sugar, or the additional nutrients from other recipes is definitely a bonus. But at the same time it’s not going to stop me from enjoying a delicious traditional brownie recipe every once in a while.
That said, I’m still keen on experimenting with lower sugar/fat recipes but I need to get a trusty regular brownie recipe as a starting point. Which is where this Easy Chocolate Brownies recipe is perfect. It pretty much involves mixing everything in a pot and plonking into an oven so it’s perfect for a quick treat.
The end result is a super decadent fudgy brownie. So cut them up into smaller slices than you might normally- great for portion control, as moderation is key!
Keen to give it a go too? Here’s the recipe:
- 395g Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 130 g butter, chopped
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 40 g desiccated coconut
- 75 g brown sugar
- 25 g Cocoa Powder
- 150 g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 95 g White Choc Chips
- 95 g Dark Choc Chips
- 135 g frozen raspberries (Optional)
- Preheat oven to 160°C/140°C fan forced and grease and line a 20cm square tin with baking paper.
- In a medium saucepan add the Sweetened Condensed Milk, butter and vanilla paste and stir over low heat for 5 minutes or until the butter has melted then take off the heat.
- Add the coconut, sugar, Cocoa powder, flour and baking powder to a medium saucepan and stir until well combined.
- Fold through Dark and White Choc Chips and raspberries (if using) with a spatula then spread the mixture into your prepared tin and bake for 25 minutes. Turn off oven but leave the brownie mixture in the oven for a further 5 minutes before taking out and cooling to room temperature.
- Serve with whipped cream on the side
