Fat Witch Brownies

Zingy, lemony, zesty…….
What’s not to like?

I’m really enjoying baking from the ‘Fat Witch Brownies’ book! So far I’ve tried the ‘Fat Witch brownies’, the ‘White chocolate bars’ and, this time, the ‘Lemon Bars’, and d’you know what? Each recipe has worked perfectly, apart from mine needing a little longer in the oven.

So, if you don’t have this book….you need it.

Fat Witch Lemon Bars

Crust:
1 cup plain flour
half a cup icing sugar
half a tsp salt
8 tbsp (120g) unsalted butter, not yet at room temperature, cut into pieces.

Filling:
3 lg eggs
1 cup sugar
half a cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
1 1/2 tbsp lemon zest
3 tbsp plain flour
big pinch salt.

Grease a 9×9 inch baking pan with butter (I use either foil or baking parchment as I find it easier to remove bars and brownies this way)
Preheat oven to 350deg.F. (160 deg.C Fan oven)

1. Make the crust- Sift flour, sugar and salt into a bowl, add the butter and mix in until it comes together.

2. Pat mixture into baking pan and bake for 15 mins. Allow to cool, make filling.

3. Beat eggs, slowly add sugar, beat in lemon juice and zest, mix well.

4. Add flour and salt, mix gently.

5. Pour filling over baked crust and bake for 15 mins.

6. Cool for at least 1 hr and cut just before serving.

Marks out of ten? 10.

Would I make this again? Definitely.

Would I do anything differently? No. Not a thing.

Recipe adapted from ‘Fat Witch brownies’ by Patricia Helding.

Brownies really fit the bill when it comes to wanting something home-made, sweet and chocolatey.
I love the way that you can get that great chocolate high easily and with minimum fuss!
Now that I don’t have as much time on my hands, due to working extra hours, it’s nice that we can still bake, but in a slightly less languorous way.
This was my first recipe from the ‘Fat Witch Brownies’ book. And it definitely won’t be my last! The only slight problem I have is the fact that, being an American book, the butter is measured in sticks and tablespoons, which I find slightly confusing. It’s not too difficult however to find conversions on the internet.

Fat Witch Brownies.

14 tbsp (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter. (I count each tablespoon as 15 g of butter)
Half a cup plus 2 tbsp bittersweet (plain) chocolate chips (I only had milk chocolate chips at home, so used those)
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 lg eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Half a cup plus 2 tbsp plain flour
pinch of salt.

Grease a 9 x 9 inch pan with butter, dust with flour and tap out excess. I generally just line my pan with aluminium foil which I lightly butter, I find the brownies come out really well this way.

1. Melt butter and chocolate in a small pan over a low heat (I do mine slowly in the microwave in short bursts, checking every 20-30 seconds) Set aside to cool.

2. Cream the sugar, eggs and vanilla together. Add the cooled chocolate mixture and mix.

3. sift the flour and salt in next, mix the batter gently. Stir in any extras you desire eg walnuts, choc chips.

4. Spread batter evenly in pan. Bake for 33 minutes at 350 Deg.F. or 160 Deg. C in a fan assisted oven.
Mine needed an extra 10 minutes.

5. Cool on a rack for 1 hour…..if you can wait that long…..

Marks out of ten? 9.

Would I make them again? I’m working my way through the book at the minute….

Would I do anything differently? No, they’re nigh on perfect.

And yes, I know I swore allegiance to Mary Berry’s brownies a couple of posts ago……. But a girl’s allowed to change her mind, right?

Recipe adapted from ‘Fat Witch Brownies’ by Patricia Helding.