Best brownie recipe ever, ever, ever

While I was house sitting, I made up a batch of brownies from their recipe, 'cos the kids (and I) had churned through most of the box that was in the freezer and I didn't want their mum to come home only to find the cookie tins empty and in need of urgent re-filling.

Longest sentence ever, sorry.

But, this particular brownie recipe is SO GOOD (think dark, fudgey, dense, rich) that I stole it and brought it back to my house.

And lucky you, I'm about to share it.

I think it comes from a Nigella book, not sure 'cos I'm dealing with a photocopied page....

but here it is:

Brownies

You will need:

375gm unsalted butter (13.2 oz)

375 gm good quality dark chocolate (13.2 oz)

6 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

500 grams caster sugar (1lb 1.6 oz)

225 grams plain flour (8 oz)

1 teaspoon salt

300 grams chopped walnuts (10.6 oz)

• Heat the oven to 180C/355F.

• Line your brownie pan, the sides as well as the base.

• Melt chocolate and butter together in a heavy based, decently large pot.

• In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla.

• In another bowl, measure out your flour and add the salt.

• When the chocolate has melted, let it cool a little before adding the egg mixture. Actually, I find if I whisk the egg into the chocolate a little at a time, I don't need to wait for it to cool.

• Add the nuts and the flour.

• Mix well until smooth then scrape into your lined brownie pan.

• Bake for about 25 minutes.

• When it's ready, the top will be dried and paler but if you test the middle it will still be dark and gooey. Perfect.

• Don't let them overcook, or they dry out and you lose the dark, rich texture.

Notes: you can do without the walnuts if you so desire, although if you've only ever had the store bought, pre-shelled variety you will be pleasantly surprised if you taste fresh-out-of-the-shell walnuts. I didn't add 300 grams as the kids had scoffed some, so it was more like 200 I think.

I made this with spelt flour and it works as well as regular wheat flour.

Next time I'll try the rapadura, though I think I'll stop there with adjustments. This one's just too good to fiddle with too much. I'm not kidding myself that it's at all healthy but I'm willing to over-look that in this instance.

Lastly, these are great stored in the fridge, or even better, stored in the freezer.

Now, if you want the yummiest mud cake ever, my sis is claiming that title right now so pop over to her to get that recipe.

I can hear those brownies singing my name right now, from my deep freeze.....I must resist!

(Or I won't sleep, dark chocolate keeps me awake! But you have one, go on...)