Extra Win: My favourite brownies, ever

You'll Love This (no, really)

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I had always intended to go deep in on brownies at some point — i.e. work out the best-ever recipe.

Then I tried my friend Saskia’s fudgy malted brownies at her book launch this week and quickly realised that I needn’t bother because, guys, we’ve found them:

Simultaneously fudgy and cakey.

Sweet but not too sweet.

Texturally satisfying with the chocolate chips running through.

But my favourite thing about them is the inclusion of malt which, quite frankly, is chocolate’s soulmate.

Just 40g of Horlicks in the batter (in addition to browning the butter) gives these brownies an addictive depth that keeps you going back for another, and another, and another.

In Saskia’s own words: “it’s been years tweaking the recipe” — and it shows.

I’m delighted to be sharing this recipe with you today as a preview of Saskia’s new cookbook You’ll Love This. Containing Saskia’s take on over 70 viral recipes from the last few years, this book combines the fun of social media trends with the confidence of knowing that you are in exceptionally experienced hands.

Saskia has developed the recipes in many a bestselling cookbook for the likes of MOB, Joe Wicks and countless others. She is bloody good at what she does and it’s lovely to see her fronting her own cookbook after years of ghost-writing for others!

All that’s left to say is this: make the brownies, and when you realise how good they are, go out and support Saskia by buying the book.

Love,
Alexina

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FUDGY MALTED BROWNIES (AKA HEAVEN)

Saskia’s intro: I’ve taken a few tips and tricks from the most viral fudgy recipes out there, combined it with my own which has been notorious since I started selling it for birthdays at my primary school(!). I’ve loved adding Horlicks or Ovaltine (a malted milk powder) to my brownies for extra depth of flavour. Now, when I tell you this recipe is fudgy, it is FUDGY. They are verging on undercooked and batter-like, and I think that’s exactly how they should be. If that’s not how you like it, cook them for a little longer!

Makes 12

Takes 1 hour + resting

Ingredients

• 250g salted butter

• 50g cocoa powder

• 170g dark chocolate, chopped

• 3 tbsp vegetable oil

• 4 large eggs

• 200g light brown sugar

• 150g icing sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

• 80g plain flour

• 40g horlicks

• A large pinch of salt

• 150g chocolate chips

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line an 8”x 8” baking tin with parchment.

2. Add the butter to a saucepan and melt, then continue to cook on a medium heat until the butter is browned — you should be able to see the golden milk solids on the bottom of the pan when you swirl it, around 5-6 minutes. Add the cocoa powder and chocolate and whisk well to combine until the chocolate is melted. Off the heat, stir through the vegetable oil. Set aside to cool slightly.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the eggs, sugars and vanilla bean paste until light and fluffy — it should have significantly increased in volume and when you stick your fingers in, you shouldn’t be able to feel any sugar crystals when you rub your fingers together.

4. Pour in the butter-chocolate mixture and fold to combine.

5. Add the plain flour, Horlicks and salt and fold gently to combine until no streaks of flour are visible. Stir through most of the chocolate chips, saving a few for on top.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared dish and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. A skewer won’t come out clean — we’re going for fudgy here, just trust the process.

7. Allow the brownies to cool for at least 2 hours before slicing and serving.

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YOU WILL LOVE IT, PROMISE

These are some of the recipes that have caught my eye:

• Dashi potato wedges — I ate these at the launch too and WOW, so good! And simple!

• Tahini honey butter toast — Inspired by the insanely good honey butter toast at Arôme Bakery (which you should definitely check out if in London)

• Poffertje pancake cereal — I first ate Saskia’s poffertjes last September and I haven’t stopped thinking about them since

• Smashed potato salad — We covered the brilliance of smashed potatoes on Small Wins last week, and I love the idea of turning them into a salad

• Tomato and feta crispy gnocchi — I genuinely rate the TikTok tomato-feta pasta, so I’m excited to try Saskia’s take with gnocchi

• French onion pasta — As Saskia wisely reminds us in this recipe: caramelised onions take TIME.

• Birria tacos

• Crispy skirt dumplings

• Cafe de Cowboy butter (served atop a T-bone steak)

• Dalgona affogato — I am so intrigued by the magic of whipped instant coffee! Must try.

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FOOTNOTES + FURTHER READING

• You can find Saskia on Instagram here and her portfolio (styling/recipe development) here. She also runs the beautiful Sidey studio, a space for shoots and events in South London.

• I couldn’t talk about the combination of chocolate and malt without mentioning...

  • The delicious treat that is the iced malt chocolate at Maya’s Bakehouse near Brixton!

    mayasbakehouse

    

    A post shared by @mayasbakehouse

  • The Black Velvet Cake in my first cookbook, Bitter, which has a malted cream cheese icing. My chocolate sponge recipe has evolved since the book was published, but I still believe that icing is one of the best things I’ve ever created.