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)