Springtime chocolate brownies

Name: Springtime chocolate brownies
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 70 min
Ingredients: 275 g softened butter; 375 g caster sugar; 4 large eggs; 75 g cocoa powder; 100 g self raising flower; 100 g plain chocolate chips

Brownies are one of the easiest things for kids to make. These ones are deliciously gooey on the inside but a little crunchy on top, exactly the way brownies should be. They’re simple into special springtime brownies with fun smarties flowers.

We love making brownies because they’re so easy and these springtime chocolate brownies are no exception – simply mix everything together in one bowl then bake. These ones are deliciously gooey on the inside but a little crunchy on top, exactly the way I think brownies should be. We jazzed them up this time with some spring flowers made out of chocolate Smarties.

How can kids help make springtime chocolate brownies?

The brownies themselves are such an easy bake for kids. Your kids can get to measure everything out and mix it all together before popping it into the baking tin.

Once they’re made, get your kids to help make the pretty spring flowers with the smarties. It’s a great job in colour matching, that even young children will be able to help with.

Difficulty: Easy

Time: 20 minutes plus 50 minutes baking

Serves: 24

Ingredients

275g (1 1/4 cups) softened butter
375g (1 2/3 cups) caster sugar
4 large eggs
75g (2/3 cup) cocoa powder
100g (3/4 cup) self raising flower
100g plain chocolate chips

how to make spring brownies

Pre-heat the oven to 180C / 160 Fan /350F and prepare a baking tin

Get your toddler to grease a 23x30cm baking tin. I normally just tear off a corner of the butter packet or some grease proof paper and use that to spread butter in the tin. Once greased, line the base and sides with baking paper/parchment.

Measure out the ingredients

Measure all the ingredients into a bowl. We used a small bowl to weigh everything out in turn and then added them into the mixing bowl. Face the scales towards you so you can see how much is going in and either use a spoon or pour the ingredients in.

Before putting the butter in get your toddler to cut it into small chunks. If it’s slightly softened they should be able to do this with a butter or table (ie not sharp) knife.

We normally break the eggs into a small bowl before adding them into our mixer in case any shell gets in, as it’s much easier to fish out. Doing it this way also means both of my little chefs can do something – If Hannah breaks the eggs, Lewis still gets to add them into the mixing bowl.

Mix everything together

Using a freestanding mixer with the paddle attachment or a hand held mixer, mix everything together. It’s done when it all looks evenly blended.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, using a spatula spread the mixture gently into the corners and level the top.

Bake the springtime chocolate brownies

Bake in the oven for 50-55 minutes. It’s cooked when the top of the brownies have a nice crust or you can stick a skewer in the middle and it should come out clean. If it starts to look a bit brown on top, cover loosely with foil for the last 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and arrange the Smarties flowers on top. Push them down a little bit so they set into the brownie.

Leave the brownies to cool in the tin then cut into 24 squares , or fewer if you want bigger pieces.