SALTED CARAMEL PEANUT BROWNIES- by Andy Bates

If you read my blog, you'll know I was sent Andy Bates new cook book to review, and try some recipes from. I literally have hardly been able to put the book down, and have already cooked several recipes from it. The chorizo sausage rolls are incredible, and the belly of pork with creamed beans is pretty good too, but so far, my favorite recipe is this one. I do like a good brownie, and these are almost better than my boozy prune brownies - http://alittlelusciousness.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/chocolate-rum-brownies.html !!

I doubled the mixture stated in the book, as I knew they wouldn't last long, but this is the recipe with Andy's quantities. I was also lucky enough to have been given a jar of real, proper French dulce de leche just before I made these, but if you can't find dulce de leche, a tin of condensed milk will become dulce de leche (caramel) if you cover it with water and boil for 3 hours. Make sure you allow to cool before opening!

Makes 8-10 brownies.

200g fairtrade dark chocolate

275g soft brown sugar

3 free range eggs

100g self raising flour

200g dulce de leche (caramel)

100g salted peanuts

Sea salt flakes

Heat the oven to 180C, or 170C if you're using a fan oven as I was.

Line and grease a 20cm tin.

Break the chocolate into small pieces - I usually just bash the whole bars of chocolate whilst still in their wrappers to avoid getting chocolate everywhere! Andy says to use dark chocolate, but I actually used a combo of milk and dark chocolate, and you could use chilli chocolate for this as well. Put all the chocolate into a bowl, and put the bowl on top of a saucepan with a small amount of water in it. Make sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water - if it is, then tip some of the water out or use a shallower bowl. Gently heat, and the chocolate will melt in the bowl.

While the chocolate is melting, whisk the sugar and eggs together. I did this in the trusty magimix, but you can easily do this by hand with a whisk or large fork. Once the chocolate is melted pour this into the sugar/egg mix and continue to whisk. Once all combined, fold the flour into the mixture. Try to keep some air in the mix by using large, sweeping motions to mix the flour in.

Line the tin you are using with greaseproof paper (this stops the brownies sticking and makes washing up a LOT easier!). Tap the tin on the sides so that the mixture levels out. Dip a fork into the dulce de leche, then flick it all over the brownie mix. Repeat until you have used all your dulce de leche up. Chop the peanuts up and sprinkle over the mix with a few extra sea salt crystals.

Bake at 180°C for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in the tin, and then cut into 8 squares.

This recipe is taken from Andy Bates new cook book - Modern Twists on Classic Dishes