Frying Pan Brownie
This is one of those recipes we keep coming back to because it feels a bit indulgent and a bit clever at the same time. A gooey, fudgy brownie cooked right in your frying pan, with candied hazelnuts on top that add this incredible crunch and caramel sweetness. The secret ingredient gives it a beautifully dense, moist texture that you genuinely won't believe is plant-based. It's the kind of dessert you make once and then find yourself making every time someone comes round.
Before You Start
- Preheat oven to 180°C
- Steamer basket or colander
- Food processor
- Small saucepan
- Oven-safe frying pan greased with oil
- Baking tray lined with parchment paper
- Rubber spatula
- Sieve
- Mixing bowl
- Steam potatoes for 30-40 minutes until tender, then cool slightly
Ingredients
- ¾ tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 300g unpeeled potatoes
- 100ml water
- 200g caster sugar
- 60g cocoa powder
- 100g dark chocolate
- 150ml sunflower oil - plus extra for greasing
- 110g plain flour
- 175g Speculoos spread - e.g. Biscoff
- salt
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 25ml water
- 50g caster sugar
- 75g blanched hazelnuts
Method
Steam the potatoes
- Put the potatoes in the steamer or colander, cover and steam for 30-40 minutes, until tender
- Set aside to cool just slightly
Meanwhile, candy the hazelnuts
- Spread the nuts over the baking tray
- Put the tray in the oven for 5-10 minutes, until the nuts are lightly toasted
- Put the sugar and water into the greased frying pan and set the pan over a medium-high heat
- As soon as the liquid starts to bubble, reduce the heat to medium
- Add the toasted nuts, mix well with a rubber spatula and let it bubble away, tilting the pan now and then, until the water evaporates and you have a light golden syrup that coats the nuts (about 5 minutes)
- Quickly scrape the nuts on to the greased baking tray or parchment paper
- Sprinkle over the salt and leave to cool
Prep the chocolate
- Wash out the small saucepan and add the water, sugar, cocoa powder and chocolate, then mix well
- Set the pan over a low heat, folding the mixture with a rubber spatula now and again
- Once melted, stir until smooth and take off the heat
- Scrape into a bowl and set aside to cool until just warm
Make the brownie mixture
- Once they're cool enough to handle but still hot, peel and chop the potatoes into the food processor
- Blitz until smooth
- Add the oil in a slow and steady stream until combined
- Add the vinegar and salt and pulse to mix
- Tip into the bowl with the chocolate mixture
- Fold until just mixed
- Add the flour and baking powder to a separate bowl and mix to combine, then sieve the flours over the chocolate mixture and fold together without over-mixing
- Scrape into the greased frying pan
- Spread the speculoos evenly over the top
Bake the brownie
- Put the pan in the hot oven and bake for 17-20 minutes
- Sprinkle over the candied hazelnuts and either leave to stand for 10 minutes before digging in while it's hot, or leave to cool, cut into slices and serve
Tips & Variations
- Get the caramel right: When you're candying the hazelnuts, don't walk away from the pan. The sugar goes from perfect to burnt very quickly, so stay close and swirl rather than stir.
- Check doneness carefully: You want the middle to still have a slight wobble when you take it off the heat. It firms up as it cools and that's where the fudgy magic happens.
- Serve it warm: We love this one straight from the pan with a big scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream melting over the top. It's genuinely one of the best things we've ever made.
Why This Works
The trick here is steaming the potatoes until properly tender and letting them cool before you work with them. They basically melt into the batter and give you that fudgy, almost molten brownie texture without any dairy or eggs. And those candied hazelnuts are non-negotiable. Trust us on this one, they take the whole thing to another level.