The office where I work has a number of highly skilled cooks and baking fans, which makes it hard to shed those pesky pounds when there are home-made cakes, biscuits and other treats sitting on the desk next to me. Anyway brownies happen to be a favourite but I'm partial to a bit of white chocolate myself so I wondered if there was a way to combine the two. Alas, it seemed it couldn't be done and the closest things are known as Blondies - Brownie like cakes but not chocolate flavoured, with white choc chips.
But what kind of 'TEZofAllTrades' would I be if I didn't give baking not to mention inventing a go? So I found a standard Brownie recipe and re-worked it a little and what do you know? ...Well I undercooked the first batch, although that didn't stop everyone, myself included, from making short work of the raw white choc batter I'd brought in... However, on the second try 2 weeks later, with some sage advice from colleagues R and Mrs M (see her health and nutrition blog 'Al's food and fitness adventures' by clicking here) and I got the cooking part just about right. They turned out pretty amazing, I was surprised to be honest! I made rich, fudge-like, white chocolate brownies with white chocolate chips and my *optional secret ingredient - Walnuts!
Now we can't call these Brownies since they're not brown and Blondies has already been taken unfortunately, so I was thinking Creamies makes sense... But Dreamies sounds better plus there's a white chocolate bar called Dream! So if you enjoy near-diabetic coma inducing treats and want to try your hand at making your own batch of Dreamies then the recipe is below. Let me know how you get on and what you use as your *optional secret ingredient to make the recipe your own!
TEZ original recipe - 'Dreamies'
(Please note I didn't want to shell out for cooking measuring equipment so these were guesstimates lol. However, I have included some quick tips in brackets)
Ingredients
200g butter (get a block of 500 and aim under the halfway point)
200g bar of white chocolate (break the squares up)
200-250g caster sugar (comes in 500g packs so not too diffcult to work it out)
3x teaspoons/1x dessert spoon of Vanilla extract
2x eggs
100-150g *optional secret ingredient (TEZ reccomends skinned whole hazelnuts mmm! Walnuts work too if bloody TESCO runs out... Other options to try: Honey roasted peanuts! Raspberries! Blueberries, almonds etc.)
200g white chocolate chips (I found 2x 100g bags of Silverspoon brand)
200g plain flour (again it comes in 500g packs)
200g bar of white chocolate (break the squares up)
200-250g caster sugar (comes in 500g packs so not too diffcult to work it out)
3x teaspoons/1x dessert spoon of Vanilla extract
2x eggs
100-150g *optional secret ingredient (TEZ reccomends skinned whole hazelnuts mmm! Walnuts work too if bloody TESCO runs out... Other options to try: Honey roasted peanuts! Raspberries! Blueberries, almonds etc.)
200g white chocolate chips (I found 2x 100g bags of Silverspoon brand)
200g plain flour (again it comes in 500g packs)
Directions
My pan was too small and I had some excess batter so if you have a pan the size of a dinner plate it should do the trick! Grease the pan (which I learned means rub it with some butter) pre-heat the oven to 160. Use one of those large-ish microwavable glass dishes for all of this. Chop the butter block into smaller bits and microwave in 20 second intervals. Now add all the chocolate block (not the chips!) and stir/heat more until it becomes a mixture. Add the sugar and mix (don't panic when it turns into a mash potato looking substance) for a long time until the sugar is fully spread around. Now add the vanilla extract.
This should have given it time for the mix to cool down from the previous microwaving so that when you now add the eggs one at a time, they don't cook. All done and you've a got a liquidy mix now yes? Ok now add your *optional secret ingredient. Stir in the flour then finally add the chocolate chips, which definitely shouldn't melt when you stir now thanks to the time to cool, and stir until you have your completed batter. Pour the batter into the greased pan and shove in the oven for 30-35ish minutes. 10 minutes into the cooking time the top should have coloured nicely, now cover it with foil and put back in until time is up. I covered mine at 15ish minutes in and the edges had just started to overcook (the middle pieces were perfect!), the foil will stop the top burning, thanks Mrs M.
Okeydoke remove the pan when time's up and leave it to cool. Apparently when they cool they shrink a little (which makes it easier to get them out of the pan with only minimal banging on the worktop!) Just take a knife around the edges first. You should be able to comfortably cut this into 16 pieces ready to serve up and knock the socks off you mates. Mine were all gone by the end of the work day! Again, let me know your thoughts and experiences and most of all enjoy!
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