I feel like by the time I decide to stop adding to this blog, I’ll have 2 dozen brownie recipes on here for you to bake. I’m still a staunch believer in the basic, fudgy brownie, but I also feel that sometimes you need to shake things up a bit. Especially when you’ve got frozen fruit, or some nuts, to use up.

I bought two bags of cranberries towards the end of winter, as they were discounted, and then threw them in the freezer. It means I’ve been able to play with these tart berries and add them to a variety of meals for fun. I’ve not posted them up on here for the most part, as they were usually just a thrown together meal, or something I baked to test out a recipe (including this one).

Experimenting with recipes is time-consuming and can be expensive, so it’s always helpful to have that basic recipe that you can work off and evolve as you like. The beauty of brownies is that you can also make them entirely in one bowl, which saves on a lot of washing up, and they don’t require an electric whisk – though the do require an oven (sorry HK-ers who lack ovens).

I must admit, the icing sugar went a little bit all over the place during the set up for the photos, and I never did take a photo of what it looks like on the inside – failure by me. Luckily, I’ve also made them in a standard brownie tin, and I took photos of them as squares too.

The personal-sized skillets are a great way to make individual treats that look cute, while also making sure nobody has to share dessert. Friends of mine know that I’m a huge believer in individual desserts, unless we’re ordering one of everything and sharing that way. I don’t like sharing one dessert between two or more people. So get baking!

Ingredients

115g 70% dark chocolate
115 grams unsalted butter
100 grams caster sugar
100 grams soft brown sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
140 grams plain flour
2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa
100 grams frozen cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter in a heat-proof bowl. Once chocolate and butter have melted, stir to combine and remove from heat.
3. Stir in sugars, salt and vanilla to the chocolate mixture, until well incorporated.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each one until fully combined.
5. Sift the flour and cocoa powder to the mixture. Mix completely.
6. Add the cranberries and gently fold them into the brownie batter.
7. Divide the batter between four small skillets and bake in the oven for 25 – 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly (so as to not burn any mouths or hands).
8. Sprinkle with icing sugar and enjoy with a scoop of ice cream on top of each.