Dark Chocolate Brownies: Gluten Free & Vegan

Dark chocolate brownies. Nobody has to know they are both vegan and gluten free (unless, of course, you want them to)!

It may only be October, but winter sports are in the works.  For most people, that’s probably pretty meaningless.  In our household, though, that means evening practices at the pool, with dinners eaten quickly before rushing back out the door.  Earlier this week, my husband had his first coaches’ meeting of the season.  So after telling me how much he loved the carbonara, he ran out the door to make the meeting on time.  Which is great and all, but I for one can’t be done eating for the day at 5:30.  Enter the brownies.

There I was, alone in the kitchen with nothing but reruns of Castle to keep me company.  I put away the leftovers and did the dishes, while Rick and Kate bantered onscreen.  But I was still antsy.  And, as I said, I knew I’d be hungry again before bedtime.  So I preheated the oven and started gathering ingredients, knowing that sugar and flour would be included but unsure what it was I wanted to make.  Turning to Pinterest, I saw a bunch of recipes for brownies.  Yes!  That’s what I’ll do!  But I didn’t feel like making my standard brownie recipe.  I was going to vegan these babies up!

I have to admit, I wasn’t sure how they were going to turn out as I was prepping them.  I mean, they smelled delicious and the batter that I tasted (quality control) was quite tasty.  But the batter was really thick.  As soon as I got them out of the oven, though, I knew they were going to be amazing.  When my husband got back from his meeting, smelled the baked goods, and saw the platter of fresh brownies sitting there, he couldn’t wait to dig in.  Well, neither of us could.  And we weren’t disappointed.

The brownies rose nicely, and maintained their fudgy-ness without being overly dense.  They have such a deep chocolate flavor and are sweet, of course, but not sickeningly so.  Offhandedly, I mentioned that I was really enjoying my recent foray into vegan baking.  “These are vegan?” my husband asked, through a mouthful of brownie.  “Yep,” I responded, satisfied with the result.  Because, to me, that’s the ultimate goal: fantastic tasting food, regardless of dietary restrictions.  And these brownies definitely live up to that.

Dark Chocolate Brownies

Gluten Free & Vegan

Ingredients

Fresh baked and delicious, vegan dark chocolate brownies

• ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, separated
• ½ cup white sugar, separated
• ¼ cup canola oil
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp flax seed, dissolved in 6 tbsp warm water
• 1 tbsp warm coffee
• ¾ cup gluten free flour, with xanthan gum
• ¼ tsp baking soda

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325. Line a 8×8 pan with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together applesauce, ¾ cup cocoa powder, ¼ cup white sugar, and ¼ cup canola, until everything is incorporated. The mixture should be moist throughout.
3. Stir in remaining white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt. Mix on low until it is homogeneous.
4. Add in flax eggs and coffee, and beat vigorously, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
5. With the mixer on low, beat in remaining cocoa, flour, and baking soda. Continue to beat until everything is incorporated and the mixture is glossy. The batter will be thick.
6. Transfer batter into prepared pan, and bake for 35 – 45 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Makes 16 2” brownies