March 12, 2022

Vegan Recipe Review: Brownies!


Over the past several weeks, I've been eating a vegan diet and I have loved trying out new recipes! Most of the time, I make old recipes (ones that I've made for years) and I just swap out a couple of things to make it vegan. I do like to try new recipes, though, and this series is the perfect opportunity to do so.

I haven't been craving sweets--at all--since I started eating a ton of fiber. Today, though, I chose to make vegan brownies. I haven't tried vegan baking yet and I was curious how they would turn out. Whenever I hear things like "vegan brownies" or "gluten-free cake" or "healthy cookies" I pretty much write it off--if I'm going to eat dessert, I want it to be GOOD--and I have always found that the "healthy" stuff just doesn't taste as good as the high-sugar high-fat stuff.

So when I see Pinterest links to all these vegan desserts, I naturally think they can't possibly be anywhere near as good as the traditional desserts. (Black bean brownies? They just aren't the same!) When I saw the picture of these vegan brownies, I couldn't resist making them to see if they really are the "Best Fudgy Vegan Brownies". You can find the recipe on Eat With Clarity. (I'll link to it again at the bottom of this post)

I'm going to spoil the ending on these brownies: HOLY COW. They are SO good!! I don't mean that they are "good for a vegan brownie"; I mean that they may be the best brownies I've ever eaten. They are SO moist and chocolatey and rich. I wish I could say that they are healthy, but they definitely are not. They are still high-sugar high-fat.

Vegan or not, if you like brownies, you've GOT to try these! There aren't any weird ingredients; the only "veganized" part of them is that the chocolate chips are vegan (I use the Enjoy Life brand) and instead of an egg, you use 2 Tbsp. flaxseed + 5 Tbsp. water (OR you could use applesauce instead of the flaxseed). I was curious to see how these would hold together without an egg and lo and behold, it worked. If I didn't make these myself, I'd have no idea that they were vegan.

(Note: If you prefer cake-like brownies rather than the dense fudgy ones, you may not like this recipe. These are exactly the way I like them--dense, rich, and moist. And very chocolatey.)


The unique part of this recipe is that you combine the sugar and water over low heat until the sugar is dissolved, and then you add it to the rest of the ingredients that way. I never would have guessed that dissolving the sugar first would make a difference, but then again, I know nothing about baking. The recipe developer from Eat With Clarity wrote that the sugar + water combination is what gives the top a shiny crust but leaves a fudgy center.

I followed the directions exactly as written and they turned out perfectly. These will be my go-to dessert when I need to bring something to a get-together.

The "flax egg" definitely doesn't look very good, but once it's mixed in, you'd never know.


Dry ingredients:


After adding the rest of the ingredients:


I was surprised that I had an 8x8 pan; I thought mine was 9x9. The recipe specifically mentions that an 8x8 pan is best. I don't like lining things with parchment paper because I can't get the paper to lie in there nicely and the edges always look weird when taking it out. But I did it anyway.


It was awkward and not at all fun taking it out. Next time, I'll probably ditch the parchment paper.

Once I poured the batter into the pan, of course I had to taste what was left in the bowl. I was instantly in love. I had Jerry and the kids taste it, too, and they agreed. I had to take the kids to the airport before the brownies were done cooling, unfortunately, so I'll make them again after they are home and they can taste them. But Jerry and I agreed that they may be the best brownies we've ever had. I can say with certainty that they are the best *vegan* brownies I've ever had ;)

If you have a brownie craving, I highly recommend these! Vegan or not--they are SO good.

8 comments:

  1. I might have to make these for my sister, our family brownie expert/connoisseur. And thanks for the reminders about fiber. I'm doing better with it, but making very gradual progress.

    ReplyDelete
  2. To line a square pan with parchment paper, I cut two "slings"--each one the width of the bottom of the pan, long enough to stick out over the edges, and lay them in the pan like a cross, if that makes sense. https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2017/03/27/parchment-paper-sling

    Works great.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brilliant. Thank you for the tip.

      Delete
  3. These look so yummy. I think the key to making things easy with parchment is to cut it into two strips and then lay them crossways in the pan (so, like a big plus sign). Cut the strips the width of the pan but leave the ends longer so that a couple of inches drapes over the sides. This way it fits well and you're not fighting with the parchment to get it to stay in the corners. When they're done baking and cooling you can just lift it up and onto a cutting board for easy slicing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Those brownies look amazing! I'm often blown away by how well flax eggs work in so many baked goods. I did find that I had trouble with them when I was trying to bake up in the mountains (above 6,000 feet) last summer, but I'm sure there's probably some sort of high-altitude hack that I missed.

    I'm with you on parchment paper in the corners of baking pans. I've started cutting the paper into strips that are just as wide as the pan and put in one strip each way -- that's fixed my messed up corners (the best part of the brownie!) problem.

    Hope you and Jerry enjoy your staycation this week!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Interesting, I'm super curious to try this! I'm not vegan but I do love experimenting! I currently have a surplus of chocolate chips in my pantry however, I'm wondering if I can just use regular chips and the consistency would still be the same. Obviously I would not label them as vegan then ;) They certainly look delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for sharing. I am not crazy about brownies but it was interesting that you could bake without an egg and the came out so good.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I just took them out of the oven and they look amazing. Can't wait to cut them apart for tasting. Thanks for sharing another yummy vegan recipe. Although I am not vegan, this is a very good option if you are out of eggs for whatever reason.

    ReplyDelete

I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

Featured Posts

Blog Archive