Lubed Up and Fully Loaded Hazelnut Brownies

It all started with John Barrowman aka Big Hair Boy, and his lockdown videos that kept his fans sane during the seemingly endless months of nothingness. One morning I awoke to the video that would begin my own food challenge. John aka Captain Jack, had created a tutorial for three ingredient Brownies and it seemed so simple I decided that I would give it a go. They were delicious but I became convinced that I could make them better, stronger and ever more chocolatey. For months, I have slaved over the great Brownie conundrum. I have made so many different versions of these Brownies. Some had marshmallows (which while tasty made the texture so wrong) , some were cooked at 200C for 20 minutes others at 160C for an hour. Gradually I made the recipe my own until finally, I bit into that first perfect batch.

Lubed Up and Fully Loaded Brownies have become easily the favourite treat in our home. Friends and family alike have lined up outside our windows as we pass them out at a safe and socially responsible distance.

There were more to these Brownies than simply being the best Brownies I have ever put in my mouth however. I am the cook in our kitchen, but it remains a long standing joke that my partner Mario, is always on stand by with his spatchy spatch (spatula) to help me out. This is in part due to the fact that I suffer from Joint Hypermobility Syndrome which means that all or most of my joints are usually in some form of life altering and debilitating pain and or dislocated. It sucks majorly. So, despite the fact I love to be in the kitchen and I love to cook, I need a lot of help to do it. When I took on my own personal Brownie challenge, Spatchy Spatch Man had to be on hand to open jars, mix things in bowls, lift trays in and out of the oven and generally do all the jobs my hands just can't manage on their own anymore. It gave us something to do together during lockdown that didn't consist of watching crap TV when the kids were finally in bed. It became our pet project, plus who doesn't love it when their wife spends months perfecting Brownies? Eventually it became less about the Brownies and more about just spending time together. There was a lot of dancing in the kitchen and bopping each others noses with butter.

We started playing D&D with what can only be described as an eccentric group of people every Friday night via video chat and every Friday night I made Brownies. Those nights will definitely go down in history as some of the best fun (or as we say in good oul Ireland, craic) any of us have ever had and not just during lockdown and they had some of the biggest laughs. I don't think I'll ever be able to eat one of my Brownie's again without fondly recalling the night our D&D campaign somehow ended up in a village, run by Goblins, that took over aforementioned town because it's Cows had the best milk and they really loved milk. There was also a tour of a Cow farm...which we went on. Don't ask. Oh and of course the incident with the shovel, but we try not to talk about that.

They're cheap and wonderfully easy to make. They're easy and fun to make with your big kid and even your children (that joke is for the long term relationships out there) and anyone who like Hazelnut Chocolate spread, will love these Brownies. They bring a smile to every face and they're really good for D&D.

You will need:

1 cup of flour

2 tbsps butter

1 tub hazelnut chocolate spread

3 eggs

your favourite choccy treats

icing sugar

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 160C (320F/Gas Mark 6)

2. Grease and line a baking tray with butter and then add extra butter (for extra lubrication) to the top of the grease proof paper

3. Add the flour, butter, hazelnut chocolate spread and eggs to a mixing bowl

4. Mix until smooth

5. Pour the chocolatey mix into the baking tray and spread evenly

6. Load up the mix with your favourite choccy treats

7. Place in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes

8. Once the Brownies are baked, sprinkle icing sugar over the top

9. Cut into rectangles and serve

If you want a visual guide, here's the link to my Youtube tutorial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUjz7CWZX8k&t=5s

Enjoy your Brownies!