Sometimes I amaze myself with my bonkers baking or cooking ideas, and after receiving my latest Degustabox UK subscription box earlier this week, my initial thought was to make something using the Jim Jams (reduced sugar) chocolate spread.
However, the next day, upon another inspection of my delivery products, I suddenly had a light bulb moment and decided that aswell as the chocolate spread, I would incorporate the Yushoi Snapea rice sticks and the Beloved date fruit hearts into the bake too. See – bonkers!!!
I have seen Pretzel Brownies all over pinterest, and I figured, and hoped, that these lightly salted savoury snacks, would work in the same way. First of, the rice sticks are green which made for a fun coloured brownie crust!
Love the green colour actually!
I mixed the crushed green crumbs with a little melted butter and maple syrup, and then pressed into the base of a brownie tin. I decided to add the Beloved date sweets too as I figured this would add some chocolate and orange flavours to my brownie, and act as a natural sweetener , and then of course I used some of the Jim Jams chocolate spread. This means that these brownies are VERY low sugar , basically sugar free, so they are great for little mouths and teeth!
I also kept back some of the green breadcrumbs and chocolate spread to make a topping for my baked brownies. Once cooked and decorated I think they look really interesting!
The green of the rice sticks looks great against the chocolate, almost a bit Halloween – ish for this time of year in fact!
I have never tried Pretzel Brownies myself, but I do like the taste of chocolate with salt, so to me these brownies tasted nice. You could taste the orange flavour inside the brownies from the date pieces, and the green crust on the bottom added a nice bit of texture. Thankfully, I managed to maintain some gooeyness inside the brownie too
Obviously, if you fancy making this recipe, you do not have to use the rice sticks, you could substitute them for any lightly salted biscuit but then you would not get the vibrant green crumb topping!
Here is how I made them:
- 1 packet of Yusho Snapea Rice Sticks
- 50g salted butter
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 125g salted butter
- 2 eggs
- 225g self raising flour
- 2 packets of Beloved orange and chocolate and chocolate date hearts
- 1 jar of Jim Jams chocolate spread
- 100g milk chocolate, melted
- Pre heat the oven to 180oC / 160oC (fan)
- Grease and line an 8 x 8 inch square brownie tin
- Melt the butter and maple syrup in a pan
- Blitz the rice sticks in a food processor to make crumbs - remove 1 tbsp and place to one side
- Pour in the melted butter and syrup and let your processor mix the ingredients to almost form a green dough
- Remove the buttery rice sticks, and carefully press down into your prepared tin - its a tight fit but they should just cover it all
- Now make your brownie, by creaming the butter - beat in a mixer for about 5 minutes until soft
- Meanwhile place the date hearts in the food processor and blitz to roughly chop them
- Add to the now softened butter, and add the eggs, ¾ of the Jim Jams chocolate spread and the flour and beat to make a smooth ish batter
- Pour - well scoop - the batter on top of the green base, and carefully spread across it all
- Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, the brownie should be 'just baked'
- Leave to cool completely,
- After at least an hour,remove the brownie from the tin
- Melt the chocolate and then mix in the remaining Jim Jam chocolate spread and cover the top of the brownie with it
- Scatter the green rice stick crumbs over the top
- Cut into squares and enjoy
There you have it , you really can make something out of almost anything !!
I was sent the featured products in my monthly DegustaboxUK for the purpose of a review. You can subscribe to Degustabox UK and receive a box every month yourself
Love the sound of these! I make salted caramel brownies sometimes but I tend to hide them from the kids, lol!
Wow that is brilliantly bonkers – but in a good way! I think sometimes the bonkers ideas are the best. These look great!! Thanks for linking up to #CookBlogShare 🙂 Eb x
That has to be one of the most unusual recipes that I have seen in ages! The end result looks amazing. I hope it tasted as good! x