Attempting Vegan Brownies

Back on Thanksgiving day, I had attempted to make vegan chocolate brownies for dessert. It had been a while since I last prepared dairy-free and egg-free brownies, so I thought that Thanksgiving would be the perfect opportunity to try making them again. Rather than follow one certain recipe verbatim, I decided that I would create my own unique recipe based on many different ones while using the ingredients I had available. Now I’m all for brownies being a little gooey, but my finished batch ended up being too soft and gooey. Instead of solid brownies, they were more of a creamy consistency.

Since it was still a delicious treat, I thought that I would share my recipe and mention all the healthy ingredients that I used. I’d also appreciate any advice and constructive feedback on my recipe regarding how I prepared it and what ingredients I should change, add, or leave out for next time!

The Ingredients:

Water - 1 cup
Macadamia milk - 1 cup
Almond flour - 1 cup
Cocoa powder - 1 cup
Himalayan salt - 3 pinches
Coconut oil - 1/2 cup
Vanilla Extract - 1 tbsp
Walnuts - 1/2 cup
Purple sweet potatoes - 3/4 cup (1 or 2 potatoes)
Pitted dates - 1 cup (I used 10)

Directions:

1. Set oven to 350 F
2. Peel purple sweet potatoes and steam for half an hour
3. Blend all ingredients together for a fine, smooth consistency (I used the Vitamix)
4. Pour mixture into a nonstick baking tin and bake for an hour
5. Let cool for 5 minutes (and then try your best to cut the brownies into squares, but fail because they’re too gooey lol…)

As you can see on my ingredient list, I had decided to use purple sweet potatoes for the first time simply to try something new. Like all sweet potatoes, they pack a lot of vitamin A, vitamin C, and manganese. They’re also a good source of copper, dietary fiber, vitamin B6, potassium and iron.

I still remember the sweet, chocolatey scent that wafted through the air after I had blended all the ingredients together in the Vitamix. The smell of vanilla and cocoa powder were the most prominent.

After baking the brownie mixture for an hour in the oven, I was surprised to find that it was still as soft as it was after the first 30 minutes. When I eventually came to the conclusion that the mixture would not thicken anymore, I pulled the baking tin out of the oven and let the brownies cool before trying to scoop them out as best I could. I put the leftovers in the freezer, and was pleasantly surprised the next day when I took a bite out of one and felt like I was tasting chewy, brownie-flavored ice cream!

While it would have been nice to enjoy some solid vegan brownies on Thanksgiving, I’m always open to learning from my baking mistakes and improving my vegan recipes as I go. What kind of desserts did you get to enjoy over Thanksgiving? Did you also have any baking fails? Let me know in the comments below!

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