The Musette: Chocolate & almond butter swirl brownies

Posted on 17/09/2022 by Sheree

In this recipe you make two batters to swirl into the tin, but both are quick and easy and everyone can swirl. This recipe does use quite a lot of nut butter, which is very easy to make at home or, of course, you can use shop bought. I won’t tell!

I recently made a batch of these for my beloved to take on his recent cycling club trip thereby earning himself plenty of brownie points. See what I did there?

Ingredients (makes 12)

almond butter batter:

75g (1/3 cup) golden caster (superfine) sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 large organic egg (approx 14oz)
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g (1/2 cup) smooth almond butter

chocolate batter:

100g (3/4 cup) white spelt flour
100g (1/2 cup) golden caster sugar
½ tsp baking powder
1 pinch salt
1 tsp espresso coffee powder
100g (1/2 cup) unflavoured coconut oil, melted
2 large organic eggs (approx. 28oz)
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g (1 1/4 cups) 70% cocoa chocolate, chopped into chunks (melt 1 cup/150g and save the rest for garnish)

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/350F/gas 4 and line a 20cm (9 “) brownie tin with greaseproof (parchment) baking paper.

2. Firstly, melt together 150g chocolate with coconut oil over a low heat on the hob or in the microwave. Stir until it’s smooth and glossy. Allow to cool.

2. Now make the almond butter batter by whisking together all the ingredients in a small bowl until well combined. Note, the batter will be thick.

4. Firstly pour the chocolate batter into the tin and level it. Dollop heaped spoonfuls of the almond batter on top and use a knife to swirl it in figures of eight. Top with the remaining chocolate, pressing each piece slightly into the batter.

5. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the brownies are firm and the almond butter swirls are golden. Take out of the oven and leave to cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12 delicious mouthfuls, or six if you’re feeling greedy. Feel free to sprinkle with a spot of sea salt.

6. If you’re not eating it immediately – how is this even possible! – wrap in cling film and place in fridge where it’ll happily keep for a couple of days or freeze for no longer than a month.

Sheree’s Handy Hints

1.To make the brownies vegan use either flax or chia “egg” substitutes. For the almond butter mix 4 tsp of the seeds with 3 tbsp of warm water and for the chocolate batter mix use 8 tsp of seeds with 6 tbsp of warm water. Mix in separate bowls and leave to thicken for around 15 mins. before using. Use as per eggs above.

2. I have used almond butter but you could substitute hazelnut butter for a more classic mix or even tahini.

3. This time I’ve topped the batter with chopped chocolate but feel free to add chopped nuts too.