Mexican brownies with chocolate and cinnamon are the perfect way to finish a Mexican feast. Unlike American brownies, they have a nice kick of chili (but not enough to burn!).

Mexican brownies with chocolate and cinnamon

‘I’m going to turn into a burrito soon.’

That was my husband one night.

I’ll admit, I had been on a bit of a Mexican roll.

We had it Tuesday, then twice on the weekend and again the night before writing this.

In 10 days I made 48 tortillas!

Last Friday night’s Mexican feast (the largest of the dinners) for Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Day, which featured my Mexican brownies, was a rip-roaring success (well I think so anyway).

I thought I’d over-catered as I usually do but in the end we were left with only just enough fajita filling to have a repeat dinner the following night.

The aim was to serve a dinner that was easy to make and was made from scratch, or as close to from scratch as possible.

I served corn chips and guacamole to start with and I’ll admit that the corn chips weren’t homemade but they were an Aussie brand.

For dinner we had shredded beef burritos and chicken fajitas and the only things I didn’t make were the salsa and taco shells.

I borrowed the sombreros and Mexican flag from Mum which she got from a Mexican restaurant we used to visit all the time in Sydney.

Would you believe I actually own the rest of the Mexican goodies.

The taco stand and cute little cactus candles were a gift from my lovely Mum, the placemats I bought in Peru (ok so technically not Mexican) and the rest of the serving ware were Birthday gifts from my friends.

Aren’t my friends good sports?

Not only did they put on their hats without me even asking, they all gave me the ok to post the photo.

My photographer husband on the other hand wasn’t so keen on me sharing the solo photo of him even though he’d probably never see it.

Maybe I’ll share it later.

Probably the highlight of the night was when the boys dared each other to eat a chili.

I picked them from the garden that morning and had them as table decoration but the challenge was set.

These are no ordinary chilis.

The little baby ones are hot hot hot.

Even Mum, who could eat fire such is her tolerance, thinks they’re hot.

About 10 seconds after they’d bitten into them I was in hysterics.

I’m talking laugh-until-you-cry hilarity.

Later they bet two of my girlfriends to eat them for payment and they obliged.

Some of my favourite quotes were:

• To our doctor friend ‘do you think I need to go to the hospital?’
• ‘I think I need to go to the emergency room.’
• ‘Just when you think it’s gone it’s like they come back even angrier!’

After the entertainment it was time for dessert.

I didn’t go all out plating up something extravagant.

After such a feast, I thought a little something to nibble on would be more appropriate (plus I knew there’d be leftovers!).

There was one authentic Mexican recipe – Mexican wedding cakes – but there needed to be chocolate.

I played around a little with my raspberry and pecan brownies – which are more like American brownies – to Mexican-ify it by adding a little chili, which I probably could have added more of and a nice spoonful of cinnamon.

Instead of making them with butter, I used coconut oil and the result was perfect Mexican brownies. 

They were still gooey in the middle with the essential crunchy bits on top.

A sprinkling of cinnamon-laced icing sugar finished them off nicely.

Enjoy!

What about you? Do you know of any Mexican desserts?

Mexican chocolate cinnamon brownies

Yield: 12

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

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Ingredients

• 90g coconut oil
• 120g dark chocolate
• 1 small chili split down the middle and de-seeded
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 225g caster sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 90g plain flour
• 50g almond/pecan/hazelnut/macadamia meal
• Icing sugar and cinnamon to dust.

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160C fan-forced.
2. Grease and line a large loaf tin so that the paper extends over the long sides of the tin.
3. Place the coconut oil, dark chocolate and chili in a large heat-proof bowl and zap in the microwave 20 seconds at a time until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.
4. Leave the mixture to cool for a few minutes then removed the chili and whisk in the eggs.
5. Stir through the sugar, cinnamon, flour and almond meal.
6. Spread the batter into the tin.
7. Bake for 30-35 minutes.
8. Leave to cool completely in the tin.
9. Slice up into generous squares and enjoy warmed a little sprinkled with cinnamon and icing sugar.