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Vegan Brownies with Flax

By Eliot, on July 20th, 2014

Today is posting day for Secret Recipe Club‘s Group C!   Secret Recipe Club is a group of ardent food bloggers that are kept in line by some truly marvelous hosts:   Camilla, Jane,  Sarah, and the fabulous Group C host, Debbi.   Each month the membership receives their assignments, we all lurk around our assigned blog, we bake or make some new delicious food, and then on posting day….(drum roll please)…we all roll out the results.

Secret Recipe Club

My “secret pal” for this month was Brittany at We Heart Vegan.    Let me this say that I sometimes like to believe I am a closet vegetarian.  I can go for days and not eat any animal protein.   But, then I smell bacon and all bets are off.  I applaud those, like Brittany, who are informed and embrace the vegan lifestyle.   Brittany’s journey in all things vegan is interesting and you can check it out here.

I settled on Brittany’s Be-All-End-All Vegan Brownies.  With a name like that, who could resist?

2014-07-15 10.02.02

Vegan Brownies with Flax
Original recipe here.  

1 pkg. Starbuck Via Italian roast (or 1 t. instant espresso) dissolved in 1/2 c. hot water
2 T. ground flax meal
6 T. hot water
1 c. coconut oil
3/4 c.  milk chocolate chips (or 3/4 c. vegan chocolate chips)
1 t. vanilla extract
2 c. granulated sugar
1 c. all purpose flour
1 c.  whole wheat flour
3/4 c. organic cocoa powder
1 t.  baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t.  sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare an 8” x 8” pan.

Dissolve coffee in the hot water.   In a small dish, combine the flax meal with the 6 Tbsp. hot water. Stir well and let sit about 5 minutes.

In a double boiler, heat coconut oil, chocolate chips and vanilla extract until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.   Remove from heat and whisk in coffee mixture and sugar.   Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.   Add the chocolate mixture and flax seed mixture and stir to combine.

Bake for 40-50 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.

 

 

Recipe notes:   Brittany states not to remove the brownies from the pan immediately (tough, right?) but to let them cool completely or even overnight.  “Do not cut or remove the brownies from the baking dish or you will have a big pile of brownie crumble… though that may not be the worst that could happen…”    She usually lets her brownies set overnight, then uses a then spatula and a sharp knife to remove them from the pan.

These brownies puffed up to the rim on the 8″ x 8″ pan but fell while they were cooling.   That’s okay because these are a super dense brownie.

Tasting notes:   I love baking with coconut oil.   The oil just leaves a hint of coconutty goodness to baked goods.   These are nutty, super-moist, and delicious.  They remind me of baked fudge and I think the next time I make these I will spoon them out warm and top with vanilla bean.

I gave one to The Hubs for the true test before I told him they were vegan.   He didn’t bat an eye and told me these were keepers.

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Brittany’s quest is to show that living a vegan lifestyle does not mean you have to give up taste.   She started her blog “as a way to show everyone that good vegan food can not only be healthy, but also cheap and appealing to everyone. ”   I really enjoyed reading through her posts and looking at some truly delicious food.   In fact, you might want to check out the following recipes:

Baked Falafel

Greek Antipasto Salad

Vegan Tuna Salad (i.e. chickpea salad)

Thanks for a keeper, Brittany!

For all my SRC posts, click here.


 

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