Lazy Sunday means baking. But what to make? I have a huge packet of dates that I bought on offer in Holland and Barrett some time ago, so my first thought was sticky toffee pudding. However, I would have had to eat it all as Thom doesn't really have a sweet tooth, and they're not really portable to work.
My second thought was some brownies, as I've never made them before. But what to do about the dates? I decided to try and incorporate them into the brownies, as I thought they'd add a fudgy texture. I looked at a few recipes online but as nothing was quite right I made up my own.
Ingredients:
180g margarine
120g dates, chopped
250g demerara sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
250ml soya milk or water
250g flour
1 tsp baking powder
70g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
Method:
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius/350 degrees Fahrenheit, or gas mark 4.
Put the margarine in a small pan on a low heat. Once it's melted, add the chopped dates and sugar. Mix well and set aside.
Sift the flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt into a large bowl.Add the soya milk (or water) to the wet mixture, and combine thoroughly. Then add the wet ingredients to the dry, bit by bit, mixing well until you have a smooth batter (apart from the dates).
The earlier you take it out, the gooier it will be.
Once cool, cut into cuboids.
Result: I took my brownies out at about 25 minutes or so, and the texture was reasonably chewy/gooey, which apparently is how brownies are supposed to be. They were good, chocolatey, and very sweet. I reckon the sugar content could be reduced, and a greater quantity of dates could be used. They add a sticky texture and a treacly flavour which makes the brownies less homogeneous and more interesting. I am thinking next time I may try making mocha brownies.
