Recipe: Lindt Brownies

Last week I shared with you the recipe for Mint Chocolate Brownies and it went down a storm. Everyone who had some of mine loved them, including my area manager. So today I'm back with another brownie recipe but this time featuring the only chocolate I've been eating this festive period, Lindt Balls. I can't get enough of these at the moment and a little while ago I experimentally stuck some into a batch of brownies I was making and they turned out so well. And of course with them being readily available at work I may have brought a few more bags to make a few more batches, including the one I'm sharing with you today.

Ingredients 
200g Dark Chocolate
200g Unsalted Butter
275g Caster Sugar
90g Plain Flour
35g Cocoa Powder
3 Eggs
100g Dark Chocolate Chips
12 Mini Lindt Truffle Balls

Method
1- Pre heat the oven to 180C. Grease a 9 Inch square brownie tin with greaseproof paper.
2- Into a bain marie place the dark chocolate and butter. Over a low heat, melt the two together, taking care to keep the heat down low so the chocolate doesn't catch and burn. I tend to stir mine every so often so nothing sticks to the bottom of the bowl.
3- Once everything is melted together, place it to one side to cool down. I always used to make the mistake of not letting cool properly and adding it before it was ready which resulted in a bread like brownie instead of the beauties I get now.
4- Into a seperate bowl place the sugar and the eggs. Whisk together until the mixture is pale, double in size and leaves a trail when you pull the whisk out. This is the only part of the recipe where you can use a higher speed on your electric mixer, everything else has to be slow or you'll end up knocking out the air you've just created.
5- Take your now cooled chocolate mix and pour into the sugar mix. Fold gently to keep the air into the mixture but remembering to scrape the side of the bowl so everything gets fully incoporated and nothing is left sitting on the side of the bowl.
6- Add the flour and the cocoa powder and fold gently into the mixture. Again this part requires slow, gentle folding actions to keep the air in the mixture. However you will need to scrape the sides of the bowl as the flour and the cocoa powder will stick to it and you don't want to end up with pockets of flour in your brownies.
7- Pour in your chocolate chips. You can use any type of chocolate chip you like but I prefer to use dark chocolate chips to give them a richer taste. Again fold everything in whether with your mixer or a silicone spatula.
8- Spoon the mixture into your prepared tin. Smooth the top over with a palette knife and then gently press your Lindt balls into the mixture. You should still be able to see them slightly but you don't want them just sitting on top of your mixture. Pop in the oven and bake for 30-40mins or until a skewer comes out clean.
9- Leave to cool completely in the tin. This helps it keep it's shape and gives them a chunkiness that a lot of brownies lack.
10- Once cool, cut into squares or chunks. Then all that's left to do is enjoy them or take them into your work and woo the management like I did.