Oh yes… we are going there.
Every woman needs a good brownie recipe. And every vegan woman needs to know brownies are not a thing of the past.
Brownies are just one of those sweet staples. Perfect after dinner.. perfect for a break up…. perfect while cleaning… well, I guess anytime is Brownie Time.
AND, if you want brownies, why not have them be as healthy and divine as possible? (Without compromising on taste or indulgence, obviously!)
These delights happened quite by accident. I wanted to make brownies (as you do) and I had some avocadoes in the fruit bowl that needed using up. As I’m a passionate baker, (and a vegan one!) it’s necessary to keep an open mind about what goes in the mixing bowl…. You know what I mean.
This can make for disasters …. or genius.
Ladies: this went genius.
After some fun experimentation, a few tweaks and a lot of eating, I think I’ve created the most delicious, indulgent, chocolatey, fudgy brownies you will ever eat!
Points for instincts!
Preperation time: 20 minutes
Baking time – 30 – 40minutes
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups wholemeal plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 ½ cups raw unrefined brown sugar
2 large mashed avocadoes
4 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup organic soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
200g best dark vegan chocolate, broken up into small pieces.
Flaked almonds for the top (optional)
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.
Begin by combing all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder and cocoa) in a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon.
This may sound odd, but the trick to baking is combining things properly. Sometimes things go wrong and you don’t know why and it can be as fickle as mixing when you should have been folding, or not having all your ingredients properly combined. Hilarious, I know, but try rid your mixture of any annoying lumps (brown sugar can be a culprit!)
Put your coconut oil into a saucepan to melt gently. Make sure it doesn’t boil 🙂
In a small bowl, half your two avocados, scoop out the green goodness and mash it together with a fork until you can mash no more! Ideally you want this to be as smooth and “paste-like” as possible. The avocado is your binding agent, doing what an egg would (except being totally good and healthy) so the smoother it is, the smoother your brownies will be.
When the oil is melted, add it, the avocado and vanilla essence into the dry ingredients. Fold together very slowly with a wooden spoon and be patient. You may have to work at this for a few minutes until everything is combined. Your mixture will be quite thick – so now is time to slowly add the soy milk. Again – fold the wet ingredients in. Folding is your friend and will prevent any curdling.
When the mixture has reached the perfect consistency and looks nice and smooth, add in your dark chocolate and combine. Try not to eat all your batter straight out of the bowl….
Grease a brownie tin with coconut oil and pour in your mixture.
Once your mixture is nice and even (you can work it flat with a spoon) add some flaked almonds on top.
Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes. Test them by seeing if a skewer or knife comes out clean. If there is some batter on the knife, put them back in the oven for another 5 minutes.
Once your brownies have baked, leave them to cool for at least an hour. I know this seems impossible when they smell so damn good, but the longer you leave them to cool, the nicer they will slice!
Cut your brownies up into nice big ones or lovely bite sized ones! However you choose.
I went big….
Finally….DEVOUR!!
