Hairy Bikers Brownies

Hairy Bikers brownies are dense, fudgy chocolate squares made with 300g of dark chocolate, butter, hazelnuts and an optional chocolate hazelnut swirl. The recipe makes 12 and they bake at 170°C for about 30 minutes.

This comes from The Best of The Hairy Bikers. Si and Dave recommend adding the chocolate spread and liqueur even though they’re listed as optional. The headnote admits they originally left them out, but the fudgy result changed their minds.

The overnight fridge rest is what most people skip, and it’s the step that matters most. Si and Dave say to refrigerate the tin overnight before cutting, which “helps them settle into a consistency that isn’t too cake-like.” Cutting warm brownies gives you crumbly slabs. Cutting cold ones gives clean, fudgy squares.

Hairy Bikers Brownies

Recipe by Pinch PerfectCourse: DessertCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

12

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

30

minutes

Calories

490

kcal

Total time

50

minutes

A triple-hazelnut brownie from The Best of The Hairy Bikers. Dark chocolate melted and chopped, butter creamed with sugar, hazelnuts folded through and scattered on top. Optional chocolate hazelnut spread and liqueur swirled into wells in the batter before baking.

Ingredients

• 100g plain flour

• 50g cocoa powder

• ¾ tsp baking powder

• pinch of salt

• 300g dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)

• 250g butter

• 250g granulated sugar

• 4 eggs

• 100g hazelnuts, roughly chopped

• 100g chocolate hazelnut spread (optional)

• 50ml hazelnut liqueur (optional)

Directions

• Prepare: Preheat the oven to 170°C/Fan 150°C/Gas 3½. Line a 30 x 20cm brownie tin with foil or non-stick baking paper.
• Mix the dry ingredients: Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder into a bowl with a generous pinch of salt.
• Melt the chocolate: Break 250g of the chocolate into a heatproof bowl and place over a pan of barely simmering water. The bowl should not touch the water. Melt, stirring regularly, then remove and cool slightly. Roughly chop the remaining 50g of chocolate.
• Make the batter: Beat the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, then pour in the melted chocolate and mix thoroughly. Fold in a third of the flour mixture, then repeat with the remaining two-thirds. Stir in half the hazelnuts and all the chopped chocolate. Scrape into the tin.
• Add the optional swirl: If using the chocolate spread and liqueur, mix them together until smooth. Make small wells in the batter and spoon in the mixture.
• Bake: Sprinkle the remaining hazelnuts on top and press lightly. Bake for about 30 minutes, checking after 25. A skewer should come out with a few crumbs attached, not wet and not clean.
• Rest: Cool in the tin. Refrigerate overnight before cutting into squares.

FAQs

Why use two forms of chocolate?

Si and Dave melt 250g of dark chocolate into the batter for a smooth, rich base. The remaining 50g is roughly chopped and folded in, which gives you pockets of solid chocolate that stay slightly underdone in the centre.

Those molten chocolate chunks are what make a brownie feel fudgy rather than uniformly dense. If all the chocolate were melted in, the texture would be the same throughout. The chopped pieces create little pockets of intense chocolate that contrast with the softer, cakier batter around them.

Should I add the chocolate spread and liqueur?

Si and Dave originally listed them as optional but changed their minds after testing. The headnote admits “it really is worthwhile adding them” because they make the brownies “extra specially fudgy.”

The spread and liqueur are mixed together and spooned into wells in the batter before baking. As the brownies cook, the swirl stays gooey while the surrounding batter sets around it. It creates a ripple of pure hazelnut chocolate through each square. If you skip them the brownies are still rich, but with them they’re on another level entirely.

Why refrigerate overnight before cutting?

Warm brownies crumble when you cut them because the butter and chocolate haven’t fully set. Si and Dave say the overnight chill “helps them settle into a consistency that isn’t too cake-like.”

The cold firms up the fats in the butter and chocolate, which gives each square a clean edge and that dense, fudgy chew you want. If you cut them warm you’ll still enjoy them, but they’ll fall apart on the plate. The spicy fruit loaf uses the same principle of resting before slicing.

How do I know when they’re done?

Si and Dave’s skewer test is specific: “a few crumbs attached, not wet, not completely clean.” This is the line between fudgy and underbaked. If the skewer comes out wet, give them another 3–4 minutes.

Start checking at 25 minutes since every oven runs slightly differently. The surface should look set and slightly cracked, with the edges pulling away from the tin just a little. The centre will wobble when you move the tin, but it firms up as it cools and sets fully during the overnight chill.

What tin size should I use?

Si and Dave specify 30 x 20cm, which is a standard brownie tin. This size gives you thick, generous squares. A smaller tin would make them taller and need longer baking. A larger tin would spread them thin and they’d overbake.

Line the tin with foil or baking paper with an overhang on two sides. This lets you lift the whole slab out cleanly once chilled, which makes cutting much easier than prising brownies out one by one.

How do I store these brownies?

Keep them in an airtight tin at room temperature for up to 5 days. The high butter and chocolate content keeps them moist far longer than a sponge cake would last. They taste best at room temperature, where the fudgy centre softens slightly, rather than straight from the fridge when they’re quite firm.

They freeze well wrapped individually in cling film for up to 2 months. Defrost at room temperature for an hour. Si and Dave suggest serving them warm with vanilla ice cream as a pudding. Try reheating a square in the microwave for 15 seconds.