Delicious brownies that are vegan, gluten free, and only sweetened with maple? How can that possibly be? Well, I took it upon myself to do the "hard" work of eating my way through multiple brownie recipes over the past few years, and this is the one that won, and is the only brownie recipe that I make these days.

This post is a freshened up re-do of one of my posts from 2014.

Same recipe, new photos, and shaped like brownies this time. I've been enjoying these the past few months, as a delicious way to satisfy a craving for a decadent chocolate dessert.

These brownies are DENSE, FUDGEY, and CRUMBLY in the best possible way. Absolute perfection with a cup of coffee, and they don't leave you feeling gross after. Double win.

The Dainty Pig's Favourite Vegan Brownies

Vegan | Gluten Free | Maple Sweetened | Macrobiotic Treat

INGREDIENTS

Place together in Large Heatproof Bowl #1 (part 1)

1 cup alkalized cocoa powder*
200 grams very dark chocolate (I used 90% chocolate, but you could use unsweetened, grain sweetened, or if you really want something quite a bit sweeter, even a 70% dark bar) broken into small pieces
few pinches of sea salt
2 tsp cinnamon
optional: a pinch of cayenne, nutmeg, cloves (if you want a mexican spiced chocolate flavour)

Will be adding the following into bowl #1 (part 2)

1 cup boiling water
1.5 cups maple syrup
2/3 grapeseed or avocado oil
1/2 cup maple sugar (or coconut sugar)
2 tsp vanilla
optional: splash of coffee (I use my coldbrew)

Large Bowl #2

4 1/4 cups oat flour, sifted
1/4 cup ground flax
1/2 tsp baking powder*

Extras

Optional: 1/2 to 1 cup extras - I prefer chopped nuts like pecans or walnuts, and sometimes a few handfuls of dark chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350F
Get bowl #2 ready: I sifted all the ingredients into the bowl together through a sieve, but you could always just whisk with a fork.
Put water on to boil (1 cup)
Get bowl #1 part 1 ready: add the cocoa powder, salt, cinnamon, and chocolate chunks.
Get the rest of Bowl #1 part 2 ingredients ready to go (oil, maple syrup, maple sugar, vanilla, coffee). I usually just line them up on the counter, opened, so they will be easy to add in.
Add the boiling water to bowl #1 (part 1), and stir with a spoon until it gets all icing / fudgey like - not runny - but all mixed together into a heavenly chocolate paste. Most of the chocolate should melt, but if there are a few pieces left, no biggie.
Then add in the remaining Bowl #1 (Part 2) ingredients, in the following order: maple syrup, then the oil, then the maple sugar, then the vanilla, then the coffee.
Into this mixture, stir in Bowl #2 ingredients: the flour/flax/baking powder mixture.
Add in any extras such as nuts or chocolate chips.
The batter will be really thick, not runny in the slightest.
Scoop out some batter, and drop into a parchment lined baking dish - I used a glass 15" x 10" pyrex dish (my preference) or lined muffin tins.
Using your fingers, hands or the back of a spoon, press the batter down into the pan or muffin cup.
Bake for 30-35 minutes if using a pan, and 20-25 minutes if using a muffin tin. They are done when a toothpick comes out clean.
Let these guys cool in the pan for about an hour, then transfer to a wire rack. Do not cut into slices until cooled. AND, if humanely possible, I think they taste better the next day, after spending the night in the refrigerator.... These guys will last in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks, if you manage to not eat them all right away ;)

***NOTES:

If you use alkalized cocoa powder, then use baking powder.
If you use non-alkalized cocoa powder, use baking soda (same amounts / ratios)

Carrot Cake with Cashew Frosting

Oh my goodness.

WAY back when this year, I made a delicious treat for Easter. It was a super dense, hearty carrot cake, made with a variety of healthier baking ingredients. I topped it off with a delicious lemony cashew frosting. This recipe will create a cake that is almost like baked oatmeal, so please expect a super dense, hearty cake - not a fluffy, light, blood sugar crashing kind of treat.

Carrot Cake

Ingredients

DRY

2 cups regular rolled oats

1 cup gf oat flour (can sub any other flour!)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

pinch sea salt

sprinkle of cardamon

WET

1 - 398 ml can pumpkin puree

1/4 cup shredded coconut (can leave out if you want, but I'd replace with some sunflower seeds perhaps)

1 small container of applesauce (about 1/4 cup)

1/4 cup almond milk (or other milk)

1/4 cup oil of choice (I used avocado, but you could use any veggie oil)

2 medium carrots grated

1/4 cup maple syrup (makes a very minimally sweet cake! you could double or triple this amount if you'd like it to be more sweet).

2 tsp vanilla

Optional: 1/4 cup raisins, grated or diced apple

Instructions

Set oven to 350F.

Mix dry ingredients together in one bowl.

Mix wet ingredients together in a separate bowl. I whisked it all together with a fork.

Grease a pyrex dish ( I used an 11x7 one, greased with coconut oil).

Add dry to wet, and mix together. Pour into pyrex, and smooth with a spoon.

Bake for 75 mins.

Cake will firm up more once cooled. The consistency of this cake will be a LOT like baked oatmeal.

Lemon Cashew Icing

Ingredients

1.5 cups soaked cashews, drained and rinsed (soak for a couple of hours on counter)

Juice of 1 whole lemon.

2 tbsp melted coconut oil

3 tbsp maple syrup

splash of vanilla

a bit of water to thin if necessary

Directions

Blend all ingredients until smooth and creamy... it seems to get creamier the longer you blend it. You can add a splash more of water or maple syrup if you like, or try adding in a couple of soaked dates instead of maple syrup.

Place frosting in fridge and let firm up a bit while cake is cooling.

Once cake is completely cool, slather it in the icing, and keep in the fridge until serving!

I decorated mine with some veggies and lemon zest :)

I personally think the cake tasted even better on the second and third days. Happy Eating!