Rachel Kelly’s Dark chocolate brownies

It’s always important to have treats, so we’re delighted that mental health campaigner Rachel Kelly, formerly a journalist with The Times, has given us this recipe for dark chocolate brownies with Brazil nuts.

‘Food nurtures our friendships and our souls just as much as our bodies,’ Rachel says. ‘It’s absolutely crucial for our mental health, which has taken such a hit during the pandemic. That’s why I’m a huge supporter of Share A Meal and so happy to contribute a recipe.’

The brownies recipe comes from Rachel’s book The Happy Kitchen: Good Mood Food, which she wrote with nutritionist Alice Mackintosh. ‘We spent ages perfecting them, ensuring that they are soft, rich and gooey in the centre. Although they’re a treat, you have more control over the ingredients as you are making them yourself.’ Rachel explains that ‘spelt flour is whole grain, meaning it won’t lead to a sugar spike as white flour does, Brazil nuts contain selenium, which plays an important role in the immune system, and cacao is a rich source of magnesium and antioxidants.’ So, pretty well virtuous, we’d say.

Makes about 15 squares

Ingredients

10 Brazil nuts

125g dark chocolate (ideally 100 per cent cocoa, or use 85 per cent)

100ml almond milk

150g coconut oil, plus extra for greasing the tin

250ml maple syrup

seeds from a vanilla pod or 1 tbsp vanilla extract

50g raw cacao powder, sieved

3 eggs

130g spelt flour

1 tsp baking powder

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Grease a 30cm x 20cm brownie tin and line it with baking parchment. Leave the paper sticking up at the sides to make it easier to lift the brownies out when they are cooked.

2. Roast the Brazil nuts in the oven for 15 minutes, turning them once halfway through. They should be slightly browned. Leave them to cool, and then chop them up coarsely.

3. Put the chocolate, almond milk, coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla seeds or extract in a saucepan over a very gentle heat, stirring regularly, until everything has melted and you have a rich, glossy-looking batter.  

4. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the cacao powder.

5. Allow the mixture to cool for 10-15 minutes, and then beat in the eggs. Add the flour, baking powder and chopped Brazil nuts.

6. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake it in the oven for about 12 minutes. Insert a cocktail stick and it should come out with a little chocolate residue. If you like your brownies less gooey, put the tin back in the oven for a further 3-5 minutes but take it out before the top starts to crack, otherwise the consistency will be more like cake.

7. Remove the tin from the oven and use the baking paper to help you slide the whole brownie on to a cooling rack. Cut it into squares once it has cooled completely.

Taken from The Happy Kitchen: Good Mood Food by Rachel Kelly with Alice Mackintosh, published by Short Books, £14.99

Photograph: Laura Edwards