My First Attempt at Vegan Brownies
August 30th, 2007 | 
Category: Truthfully, I am by no means a chocoholic. I can say with confidence that I have never actually purchased a purely chocolatey dessert myself. However, I do love my very own homemade brownies. Dense, fudgy, and topped with a generous sprinkling of chocolate chips they have been a comfort treat ever since I returned to a dairy-free lifestyle. But lately, I have started experimenting with vegan cooking, and began to wonder, “Why not try some vegan baking? After all, who really needs eggs anyway?”
So, I eagerly set out to quickly modify my tried and true brownie recipe which housed two eggs in its original form. I researched the replacements carefully, as I had no desire to create any sort of cake-y chocolate creation. It had to remain moist, soft, dense, and chewy. Based on what I read, and what I had on hand, I settled on some applesauce, and I think a sprinkling of baking powder if I remember correctly (it has been a few weeks, as I wasn’t quite ready to share my utter disaster right away).
I put the brownies in at the obligatory 350ºF, and set the timer for 20 min, just to check in. When the timer went off, I turned on the oven light for a quick peak, and immediately thought, “Are those boiling? Brownies aren’t supposed to boil are they?” Thinking they just needed some more time to set up, I let them bake for another 5 to 10 minutes. At that point, I knew they had to be done, but as I removed them from the oven they were still, completely, boiling! A gooey chocolate mess to be certain, I had no idea how to salvage this strange bubbling chocolate brew. I sulked off to the next room and thought that perhaps they would solidify…
… and solidify they did. As a good friend I have would say, they were quite a toothsome treat, though the treat part would be a vast overstatement. Sugar and chocolate attempted to salvage the overall flavor, but I could easily crack a molar on the insanely flat and chewy thing that emerged. I can’t even call them bars or brownies as I had to use all the muscle I could muster just to rip these things apart into the shapes you see below…
So, apparently, I still need eggs. But, if anyone has a good idea for moist and dense vegan brownies (not those fluffy cake-like ones), I am all ears! To avoid leaving you hanging (and craving) on a brownie post without an actual good idea, I just found a recipe for “The Best Vegan Brownies Ever” at the Vivacious Vegan blog. I may be giving these a try soon.
The funny thing here is that the picture looks good! I so feel your pain. It is a constant struggle to reinvent old favorite foods that are good for you and dairy free. I have seen the recipe for “The Best Vegan Brownies Ever”, but have not had a chance to try them yet. I am anxious to see what someone else thinks about them!
I’m going to give Susan’s (from the Fatfree Vegan Kitchen) recipe a try, this weekend - I will let you know how they come out!! Oh and here is a link to that recipe: http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/02/valentines-dessert-2-fatfree-and.html
Hey, I tagged you for yet another meme. Don’t hate me!
what did you do with the mini-disasters?
you could blend them into a smoothies [kidding].
but what about chopping them into bits and mushing them into soy or rice ice cream, they should soften in there.
I did quite a bit of the dairy-free “ice cream” thing, and ate any parts that didn’t solidify into rocks as is. I found that when I just nibbled at it, it almost qualified as a dessert : )
The only bits that went to waste were portions of the very outer crust. I couldn’t even break them on the counter. : (
I can’t wait to see how VeggieGirl’s turn out!
That’s okay Sarah, it looks like I am due for a meme!
[...] course, I left a bunch out to enjoy fresh, and a few extras for banana bread. Undeterred from my first vegan baking attempt at brownies, I jumped into the opportunity to remake my favorite banana bread sans eggs. Sure, there were [...]
[...] course, I left a bunch out to enjoy fresh, and a few extras for banana bread. Undeterred from my first vegan baking attempt at brownies, I jumped into the opportunity to remake my favorite banana bread sans eggs. Sure, there were [...]
Hi, after pulling yet another batch of boiling brownies out of the oven (different recipe from last time), I searched vegan brownies boiling, and your post was the first hit! So, thanks for letting me know I’m not alone! If you have a solution to this problem by now, please let me know!
Thanks!
love, Jen.
Hi Jen,
As a matter of fact I have yet to find the solution! The brownie recipe I put in my cookbook contains eggs, it is one of only two recipes that does because I just couldn’t get it right without eggs! There are many cakey-type egg-free brownie recipes out there, but I only like the fudgy ones, so my success has been minimal. There is one fudgy recipe for brownies in My Sweet Vegan that I hear is quite good, but I haven’t tried it yet.