Mayo Brownies?

Several weeks ago I received an invitation from Hellmann’s to come and sample their posh chocolate brownies, made with mayonnaise!  I made some brownies using black beans several years ago, but had never thought of using mayo.

When it comes to mayonnaise I do tend to buy Hellmann’s; nothing else quite tastes the same.  It is one of the very few products where supermarket own brand simply will not do, and, similarly to Hoover and vacuum cleaner I sometimes using Hellmann’s when I am referring to any (non homemade) mayonnaise

Hellmann’s was one of the first major brands to change to using free range eggs several years ago, the fact that they did so successfully does make a mockery of other brands claiming that they cannot go free range as they cannot source the eggs.   I have sent a simple “Hellmann’s did”  in response to such excuses received from several companies.

Posh Brownies - Photo from Hellmann's

We were served up a feast of lemon and Garlic Roasted Salmon with Colcannon Mash and the Smoked Haddock Cakes with Mustard Mayo, followed by the brownies.  By using mayo, not butter there is 55% less saturated fat in the brownies, and for pence per gram the mayo is also cheaper.

I was impressed by the dishes (my previous experience of cooking with Hellmann’s was to mix it with pesto as a pasta sauce, a popular late night snack in my student days), although I thought that the brownies could have been moister, Ren also went to the evening and tweaked the recipe from Hellmann’s (below) by adding two bananas.

Hellmann’s Brownies

40g plain flour
tsp baking powder
25g cocoa powder
140g plain chocolate, broken into small pieces
3 medium eggs
225g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
8 dollops Hellmann’s Real Mayonnaise (110g)**
55g walnuts, finely chopped

* *A dollop is one level tablespoon of Hellmann’s mayonnaise (15ml)

Method

1. Lightly grease a 23cm square cake tin and line with baking paper.

2. Sift the flour with the baking powder and cocoa. Put the chocolate into a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of hot water and leave until melted (alternatively, microwave on medium power, stirring occasionally, until just melted).

3. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugar and vanilla until slightly thickened.

4. Whisk in the chocolate mixture. Fold in the flour mixture, mayonnaise and walnuts.

5. Pour into the prepared tin and bake in a preheated oven at 160°C for about 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

6. Leave to cool in the tin before cutting into squares.

Thank you to Hellmann’s for the invitation, and the lovely brownie kit you sent me home with, did you know about my weakness for pink kitchenware?