Easter Rocky Road brownies

Why eat your Easter eggs one at a time, when you can devour them all 

at the SAME time in one convenient block? 

These dark chocolate brownies are topped with an Easter egg rocky road which I’ve crammed all my favourites into – those moreish white candy-coated chocolate eggs, marshmallow eggs, and my absolute favourite; mini speckled eggs (which I should seriously consider purchasing shares in). I’ve also added some oreo’s for biscuity crunch but you can add your own favourites and turn them into your own Easter fantasy bars. Whether you’re making these FOR Easter to wow the kids (they'll love you forever!) or AFTER Easter as a way to use up your leftover stash of chocolate (what does 'leftover chocolate' even MEAN?!), these brownies are so darn swoon-worthy they’ll become a family favourite. Put simply, they're an Easter explosion of chocolate happiness in your mouth and you need to make them now! 

Happy Easter!

Side note - imagine these bars crumbled up into vanilla ice cream?! Oh em geeee.

Easter Rocky Road Brownies

Makes 12

200g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

150g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing

2 tsp vanilla paste or extract

150g castor sugar

3 eggs, beaten

75g plain flour

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tsp salt

Rocky road topping

50g butter

150g dark chocolate, 

100g biscuits, crushed

50g marshmallow easter eggs, chopped

50g mini speckled eggs

50g White candy-coated chocolate eggs, cracked into pieces

Preheat the oven to 180C and grease a 20cm square baking tin and line the base with baking paper.

Melt the chopped chocolate, butter and vanilla together in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, making sure the surface of the water does not touch the bowl.

Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar, then leave to cool for a few minutes. 

Beat in the eggs, then sift in the flour, cocoa and salt and fold in until the mixture is smooth and glossy.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and level the top. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until the top starts to crack but the centre remains gooey. 

Turn off the oven and leave the brownies inside for a further 5 minutes before removing. Leave to cool completely in the tin.

Make the topping by melting the butter then add the dark chocolate and melt until smooth. Allow to cool then stir in the biscuits, marshmallows, speckled eggs and white eggs.

OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT LIKE:

Homemade Easter Eggs

Chocolate peppermint crisp fridge cake

Chocolate rum 'n raisin fudge

Double decker chocolate brownies

What's better than a chocolate brownie? A double chocolate brownie that's what. 

A gooey moist chocolate layer, topped with a sweet and sticky blondie layer but not without a layer of Oreo cookies in between for good measure. A friend of mine labelled these 'slutty brownies' which is a little unfair and although I'd like to argue the crudeness of that statement, I can't really fault her logic*. These brownies are skanky in a lot of ways. Apart from being ahem, easy, if a brownie could wear a low-cut top AND an uber short mini skirt at the same time, these would be doing it while standing on a street corner 'shaking what their momma gave them'. Yes, they're double the trouble, and impossible to resist. Just look at them - piled on that cake stand, looking all decadent and delicious. So naughty, and wrong, but so so right. 

P.S. And if you thought that after Easter and all it's eggs I'd take it easy on the chocolate posts, then you'd be wrong! Remember, hollow chocolate, has no calories. 

Photography by Gunther Schubert of Vorsprung Studio

Double decker brownies

Makes 24

First layer

150g butter or margarine

300g brown sugar

80g cocoa

150g cake flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

100g dark chocolate chips

1 box chocolate Oreo cookies

Second layer

200g oats (not instant)

100g cake flour

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

150g butter or margarine, softened

100g Muscovado sugar

1 x 397g tin condensed milk

1 egg

170g dark chocolate chips

Melt butter over low heat; add sugar, stirring until blended.

Stir in mix of cocoa, flour, and bicarbonate of soda; remove from heat.

Whisk eggs with vanilla then add into pan mix.

Stir in the chopped chocolate and then pour into a lined baking tray.

Place a row of the cookies on top.

Prepare the blondies by mixing the oats, flour and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl.

Cream the butter and sugar until pale then beat in condensed milk and dry ingredients followed by the egg and chocolate chips. Bake at 180^oC for 30-35 minutes or until still gooey. 

*The original 'Slutty Brownies' actually consist of a chocolate chip cookie base, oreo cookies and brownie mix - see recipe here.

OTT chocolate brownie cookies (with caramelised white chocolate)

One of the greastest pleasures in life is a good midnight snack. It’s not often I wake up with the urge to visit the kitchen but I’ve always loved the idea of creating a culinary masterpiece in the dim light of the open fridge door. This weekend I found myself baking a batch of totally OTT (over the top) brownie cookies at 11pm on a Saturday night (don’t judge me), not because of insomnia but rather because my neighbours were throwing what felt like the biggest trance party in the Southern Hemisphere. And I’m not exaggerating. Okay maybe I am but still. And BTW it had nothing to do with the fact that I wasn’t invited okay? The occasion warranted a totes innapropes (totally innapropriate) amount of chocolate because that was all that was standing between me and dialling the po-po (police). The caramelised white chocolate filling is honestly the best thing that has ever graced my taste buds. How I have lived this long without it in my life, is a mystery and if I ever meet the person responsible for its glorious creation, my brain will explode from wonder. The white chocolate turns a beautiful golden brown in the oven and develops a toasty flavour. A pinch of sea salt flakes is all that’s standing between this stuff (I’m nicknaming it white chocolate crack) and a stint in rehab. Caramelised white chocolate FTW (for the win). Now smother gooey dark chocolate brownie cookies with the chocolate crack (warning: this will annihilate your diet but, hey, YOLO [you only live once] and all that) and you have a midnight snack that will solve all the world’s problems. After all, my neighbours will tell you that it contributed to the best party ever. True story.

Photography and styling by Katelyn Williams

Chocolate brownie cookies with caramelised white chocolate

I've used Fairtrade chocolate in honour of Fairtrade week - nothing better than eating chocolate with a clear conscience! 
Makes 12

Caramelised white chocolate

300g Fairtrade white chocolate, chopped*

1-2 tbsp vegetable oil

200g Fairtrade dark chocolate, chopped

50g Stork Bake

2 eggs

2/3 cup Selati castor sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ cup Sasko cake flour

¼ tsp baking powder

pinch of sea salt

To make the caramelised white chocolate, preheat the oven to 120C. Spread the chocolate on a baking sheet and drizzle with the oil. Place in the preheated oven for 10 minutes then remove and stir with a clean, dry spatula. Continue to cook for 30-60 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Don’t worry if the chocolate looks lumpy and chalky at some stage, it will smooth out and caramelize.

Once the chocolate is golden brown, stir in a pinch of salt. If it’s still lumpy you can place it in a food processor to smooth it out and add a little cream or oil if necessary. Store in a jar at room temperature.

To make the brownie cookies, melt the chocolate and Stork Bake together gently.

Beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla in an electric mixer for 15 minutes or until pale and creamy.

Fold in the flour, baking powder, chocolate mixture and allow to stand for 10 minutes.

Spoon tablespoons of mixture onto a lined baking sheet and bake at 180C for 8-10 minutes or until puffed and cracked.

Allow to cool completely then sandwich together with the caramelized chocolate.

*use a white chocolate with a minimum of 30% cocoa butter content for the best results

Caramelised white chocolate aka 'White chocolate crack'

And here's the clip of me making these yummy cookies on Expresso Breakfast Show this week: