So for the past three weeks, I have been making a million brownies. I have been on the hunt for the PERFECT vegan brownie recipe.
I tried a million different recipes, I tried a million different methods.
I tried using bananas as an egg replacer.
I tried using Ener-G Egg Replacer
I used different flours (whole wheat pastry, all purpose, spelt, etc).
I tried using a bar of chocolate instead of cocoa powder.
There was a plethora of different colored / textured batters.
Anyways, my point is that I did all kinds of weird shit. And most of the recipes I made were just either really blah, or really disgusting, or didn't cook right.
So yesterday, I made some brownies for the 11th time. I didn't expect these to taste awesome, I didn't even expect them to taste GOOD. The recipe called for more cocoa powder than flour (what the hell?) and 1 1/4 cup of OIL. Jesus christ. The proportions seemed so off. But I figured that I've tried making brownies with black beans, I may as well just try a recipe that calls for unusual proportions.
This recipe came from You Won't Believe It's Vegan! Pg 178
Ingredients
3 tbsp egg replacer (Ener-G)
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups soy milk
1 1/4 cup oil
1 tbsp vanilla
3 cups Sucanat
2 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups chopped nuts
Now, I changed a few things (because I always freaking do).
I used vanilla soy milk, so it was a little sweeter.
I used 3/4 cup walnut oil and 3/4 cup canola oil.
I used whole-wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose.
I simply used organic unbleached cane sugar instead of Sucanat.
I didn't use nuts. I don't love nuts.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan and line with baking parchment.
1. Whisk together the water and egg replacer...
then mix with the rext of the wet ingredients and Sucanat.
2. In a seperate bowl, stir together the cocoa, flour, baking powder, salt and nuts.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix together.
When the batter was made, I had a REALLLLLLY hard time not eating it all.
So I pulled out some celery and forced myself to eat that instead. I wasn't particularly pleased about it.
4. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 25 - 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack to room temperature. When cool, cut into twenty-four squares.
And, my friends, there was born a perfect vegan brownie.
:) :) :) :)
RATINGS:
Deliciousness: 5/5
Moist on the inside, a sweet, flaky top, SUPER chocolatey....this is definitely a damn good brownie. Rich and decadent, not weirdly burnt on the sides, not overly mushy on the inside. It's perfect. It's not a cakey brownie,and not a particularly fudgey one...it's a freaking moist, delicious, chocolate fest.
Ease of Preparation: 4/5
One of the easier brownie recipes I tried. I didn't have to mash up any bananas, I didn't have to melt a chocolate bar, and I didn't have to chop up any nuts (because I didn't freaking want to).
Prettiness: 5/5
LOOK AT IT!