Mini Egg Brownies

I regularly bake brownies - they're probably my favourite snack if I had to choose one! I've tried many recipes in the past, some good and some bad but none of them had delivered the 'perfect' brownies until I found this recipe a few months ago. More recently, I've come to think I have a problem with gluten and so this added another spanner in the works when it come to my quest to find the perfect brownie. After trying this recipe with normal  flour, I thought I'd give it a go with gluten-free flour and I'm happy to say it works equally well with both. I thought I'd give my favourite brownie recipe a little Easter twist and include my favourite Easter treat - Mini Eggs! They give brownies a lovely crunch and crispness, which is a nice contrast to the beautiful moist, gooey deliciousness around them.

Ingredients:
185g unsalted butter (I used dairy-free Vitalite)
300g dark chocolate (I used Co-Op's own, as it's gluten and dairy-free)
85g plain flour (I used Dove's Farm Gluten-free flour)
40g Cocoa powder
3 large eggs
275g golden caster sugar

Method:

1. Cut the butter into smallish cubes and tip into a medium bowl. Break 200g of the chocolate into small pieces and drop into the bowl. Fill a small saucepan about a quarter full with hot water, then sit the bowl on top so it rests on the rim of the pan, not touching the water. Put over a low heat until the butter and chocolate have melted, stirring occasionally to mix them. Now remove the bowl from the pan. Leave the melted mixture to cool to room temperature.
2. While you wait for the chocolate to cool, position a shelf in the middle of your oven and turn the oven on to fan 160C/conventional 180C/gas 4 (most ovens take 10-15 minutes to heat up). Using a shallow 20cm square tin, cut out a square of non-stick baking parchment to line the base. Now tip the flour and cocoa powder into a sieve held over a medium bowl, and tap and shake the sieve so they run through together and you get rid of any lumps.
3. With a large sharp knife, chop the remaining chocolate into chunks on a board.
4. Break the eggs into a large bowl and tip in the caster sugar. With an electric mixer on maximum speed, whisk the eggs and sugar until they look thick and creamy, like a milk shake. This can take 3-8 minutes, depending on how powerful your mixer is, so don’t lose heart. You’ll know it’s ready when the mixture becomes really pale and about double its original volume. Another check is to turn off the mixer, lift out the beaters and wiggle them from side to side. If the mixture that runs off the beaters leaves a trail on the surface of the mixture in the bowl for a second or two, you’re there.
5. Pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the eggy mousse, then gently fold together with a rubber spatula. Plunge the spatula in at one side, take it underneath and bring it up the opposite side and in again at the middle. Continue going under and over in a figure of eight, moving the bowl round after each folding so you can get at it from all sides, until the two mixtures are one and the colour is a mottled dark brown.
6. Hold the sieve over the bowl of eggy chocolate mixture and resift the cocoa and flour mixture, shaking the sieve from side to side, to cover the top evenly. Gently fold in this powder using the same figure of eight action as before. Finally, stir in the chocolate chunks until they’re dotted throughout and do the same with the mini eggs. 
7. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Gently ease the mixture into the corners of the tin and paddle the spatula from side to side across the top to level it. Put in the oven anIf the brownie wobbles in the middle, it’s not quite done, so sliuntil the top has a shiny, papery crust and the sides are just beginning to come away from the tin. Take out of the oven.
8. Leave in the tin until the brownie is completely cold, the turn out and cut into squares.