I’m looking out of my lounge window now and can see nasty, icy rain falling down from an iron grey sky. It’s not the sort of day to be leaving the house. When the weather is like this, I love to bake, and as I hadn’t made brownies for a long time I decided to give them a go with what I found in my cupboards (I already knew I had a bar of cooking chocolate in, which is what gave me the idea, to be honest).
I found a bag of dried dates, and thought these would work wonderfully in a chocolate brownie because of their lovely, fudgy flavour. And they did! The dates also meant I could use less sugar to sweeten the brownies, which is of course a bonus.
I don’t often share sweet recipes so I hope you will enjoy this one! It’s perfect with a cup of ginger tea on the side.
I made mine in muffin cases because I realised half way through making them that I didn’t have any greaseproof paper – you could of course make them the traditional way in a large tin, slicing them after they are cooked.
These will take you 30 minutes and will make 12 large brownies.
Chocolate and Date Brownies
140g unsalted butter
160g cooking chocolate
140g dried, pitted dates, chopped
90g brown sugar
2 tsps baking powder
160g plain flour
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla exract
Smashed honeycomb, to sprinkle on top (optional)
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. Bring a pan of water to a simmer and place a mixing bowl on top. Gently melt the butter and chocolate in the bowl.
3. Weigh out the sugar, flour and baking powder and place in a large bowl. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat together.
4. Mix the chopped dates into the chocolate and butter mix, then add it to the flour mix. Stir well to combine, then spit evenly between your muffin cases.
5. Sprinkle each brownie with a little smashed honeycomb, then bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Allow to cool before tucking in.
WHAT TO HAVE FOR DINNER TONIGHT 
You have such perfect timing with this post! I had a brownie disaster last night and I am still searching for a really good brownie recipe!
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Great! I hope you enjoy this one 🙂
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Looks like a wonderful treat on a rainy day!
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Thanks Bernice 🙂
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Harriet, your photos are so enticing – I can almost taste the chocolate-y goodness! Funny, I went to the farmers market with my sister yesterday, & she bought honeycomb. I had no idea what to use it for, so clever!
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Thanks Jeanne, that’s lovely to hear!
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My mother used to bake a date chocolate cake, it was more like a brownie texture and I remember I loved it. She lost the recipe we’ve looked and looked without any luck. This will be a perfect replacement! 🙂
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Hi Lety, that’s great! If you do make it, I’d love to hear if it’s similar to your mum’s recipe 🙂
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I will for sure!!
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These look lovely! I love ‘single-serve’ cakes and brownies – helps with portion control 🙂
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Haha so true!
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These look delicious, I can’t wait for healthy January to be over and bake these.
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OOOO I love this idea! I have to try it as soon as I am back from Toronto!
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Oh yum, I like dates in brownies but haven’t tried it myself. Will have to give it a go. I also made brownies today but mine were a lot naughtier!
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One word, YUM! These look gorgeous.
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I haven’t had brownies in so long! Love that these look tasty and have the natural sugars from dates to flavor them!
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Love chocolate and dates together!
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