Cinnamon Brownies.

I have few secrets, but the ones I do have... they're horrific. I don't often tell people for this exact reason, but I feel I need to be honest with you all.

I'm terrible at making brownies.

...But I made brownies.

With CINNAMON.

They came out perfectly moist, with just a hint of cinnamon spice. They're perfectly cooked, perfectly chocolaty and... have you ever eaten a brownie for breakfast? I have. It made me feel sick. It made me feel dirty. It was all oh, so wrong but... I'd do it again.

I'll tell you the story of how these babies came about. I'd made brownies before. I'd made them horribly. In fact, I'm not even sure I made brownies, because it was much more like a massive souffle. The brownie mix rose in the oven... and rose some more... and the middle was still completely gooey, despite being in there for an hour... then I got them out, and they were still towering above the edge of the tin and... it never deflated. Only when I poked it did it drop down, but it was still runny and horrible inside. I needed to prove to myself that I could make brownies.

So I did. I had to dash to the shop midway through making these, because I didn't realise we only had 3 eggs, rather than the required 4. Then, finally when the time came for me to add the flour and cocoa powder... I decided it was missing something, so I went to the spice box and found the cinnamon. I was a weird urge, but once I'd added a touch of it to the flour/cocoa powder... it felt so right.

And that's exactly what these brownies are. You'll want to make them and eat them all within a day. I would've if these weren't so intensely chocolaty, so instead I had to take some into college with me and they were demolished by friends and acquaintances of mine... I even offered one to my lecturer.

I'll be getting straight A's for the rest of the year.

Cinnamon Brownies.

Adapted from The Great British Book of Baking.

(I didn't use a square tin for this, we don't have one, instead I used a round cake tin. Also, feel free to omit the cinnamon, or change the milk chocolate to dark. Whatever takes your fancy.)

225g butter, diced

100g milk chocolate, broken up

1 tsp vanilla extract

200g sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

50g plain flour

50g cocoa powder

50g white chocolate chips

50g milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to gas-mark 4 (180 C/350F). Grease a 20cm tin, line the base with greaseproof paper.

Slowly melt the butter and chocolate in a small, heavy-based pan, on the lowest heat stirring frequently. Remove from heat and set aside to cool until needed.

Mix the sugar, eggs and vanilla extract together with a whisk, then whisk in the melted chocolate mixture.

Sift the flour, cocoa and cinnamon into the bowl and mix thoroughly.

Stir in the chocolate chips (alternatively you could use nuts, or a mixture of the 2) then transfer to the prepared tin and spread evenly.

Bake in the heated oven for around 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out with moist crumbs. (This will continue cooking once you’ve taken it out of the oven, so do not overcook it. [I personally had to leave it in for around 40 minutes, as my oven dislikes brownies])

Leave to cool completely before cutting into squares.

If you can stomach a whole batch of brownies, then go ahead and eat these all by yourself, but I highly recommend sharing. And, with Valentines Day coming up, you have the perfect opportunity to impress your friends, family and valentines with your baking skills, whilst showing the world how much of a generous, caring person you are.*

*(Disclamer: I don't usually condone "sharing" and I'm generally a selfish individual, so you can't sue me for any feelings of goodwill and generosity that may come from the act of "sharing")