Fudgy vegan brownies with a secret

I don't think there's a person on this earth who doesn't like brownies. Or if there is (and the reason isn't chocolate or histamin intolerance), there must be something wrong with them. Or well, I don't want to be mean, so I take it back. You're allowed to dislike brownies (and that means there's more for me!) But at least I love and adore them in all shapes and sizes. I'm also very picky when it comes to The Perfect Brownie. Dry baked goods suck and brownies make no exception to the rule. I'm also very interested in using my baked goods to smuggle all sorts of veggies to unsuspecting customers, muahaha.

I have a vaque recollection of doing a beetroot chocolate cake in the "good old" GlutenSugar days, at least I've had it on my agenda for a while. But now I decided to try it as the first treat I made for a wonderful café I've been baking for a bit over a month now, Lykke. They cater for all sorts of special diet people so I'm absolutely thrilled to be able to bake for them and practice my skills without having to eat everything myself.

The recipe for these babies is from Unconventional baker, a wonderful blog for us who'd like our cakes without any conventional ingredients but still absolutely yummy. The first batch of the brownies that I fed to my girlfriends was a little too dense and smooth to my liking, plus the taste of beets was a bit too overpowering. And I managed to mess up the topping and it separated... It still tasted good but required a generous dusting with cocoa powder to make things photo worthy.

I changed things around a bit for the café version, replacing the beet boiling water with almond milk and adding chopped almonds into the batter for some texture. The result was much better, and it does say "fudgy brownies", not "fluffy brownies" in the recipe... They are dense, but super mega yummy, and I'll take a dense brownie against a dry one any day. Give them a go!

Fudgy beet brownies

Base

1/2 c wholemeal rice flour

6 tbsp sticky rice flour

1/4 c tapioca flour

1/4 tsp guar gum / xanthan gum

1/2 c cocoa powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 c cooked beet puree

1 c maple syrup/other sweetener

1/2 c almond milk/other non-dairy milk (or beet water)

1 tbsp vanilla

chopped almonds/nuts


Topping

1 c non-dairy chocolate (chips or chopped block chocolate, preferably sugar free)

1/4 c margarine

(salt, if using unsalted margarine)

1/4 c almond milk/other non-dairy milk (or beet water)

(1/2 tsp amond extract, if you can get your hands on it. I couldn't)

cocoa powder for dusting


Heat oven to 175 C. Grease a 20 x 30 cm baking tray (or something roughly similar).

Make the beet puree first: plop beets into a kettle full of water and boil until soft. You can peel them before boiling of after, your call. Puree the boiled peets in a blender. Add a splash of beet boiling water to help things along, but don't thin out the puree too much, it needs to be nice and thick.

Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add in all remaining base ingredients except chopped almonds and mix everything with a mixer to combine. Fold in chopped almonds. Pour into prepared baking pan and level the top with a spatula to smooth out the batter.

Bake for approximately 25 minutes until a skewer inserted in the center comes out dry(ish). Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the chocolate topping by placing all ingredients in a glass or stainless steel bowl. Warm the mixture carefully on a double boiler and mix occasionally until everything is smooth and uniform. Once the brownie base has cooled a little, pour this mixture thinly and evenly over the brownies (use a spatula to spread it around evenly as needed). Allow the brownies to chill a little by placing them in the fridge for at least 20 minutes, once the tray has cooled enough to go in the fridge. This will allow the topping to get absorbed into the brownies, and that's when the magic happens.

Dust with some cocoa powder, cut into squares or hearts or dinosaurs or or or... and dig in :)

I knew I'd find a use to the dusting stencil I bought from Ikea way back when!

Raw brownie bites

I was originally supposed to return from my Asia trip in July, but in the end the choice between one more month in Asia and a longer summer in Europe was an easy one. Especially Finland is amazing in the summer: there's nothing quite like the light summer nights, the rich and fresh smell of the forest after the rain and the possibility to spend some time at the summer house. Such peace and quiet is hard to find anywhere else.

Midnight

The cooking and baking facilities at the summer house are of course a bit more modest than in the city, so I came prepared: I blended some nuts already before we left and only planned to make something that needed minimal time in the kitchen and minimal amount of washing-up.

Raw brownies seemed like an excellent way to give some rich counterbalance to the fresh berries, salad and smoked fish we were having. And the dollop of sweet and creamy coconut whipped cream didn't exactly ruin the lovely little squares, either. Have I mentioned, how I'm a complete coconut junkie? Well, if I haven't then now you know. Hi, I'm Lilje, and I'm a coconut-holic. Give it to me in every form and consistency and I'll gobble it up like there's no tomorrow. In fact, I'm sipping coconut water as I write this post, and there's a new delicacy waiting to be blogged about in the fridge, where one of the main ingredients is coconut oil. But there are worse things to be hooked on than coconut, right? (Ok yes let's not mention chocolate in this context now, shall we?)

But I digress. Back to the brownies. They were really really good, and the yield of the recipe is perfect for a couple of days snacking for 2 people or a little sample for more people. I chose to make the brownies bite sized since they are quite rich, which was a good decision (and then you can have more pieces! Yay!) And the coconut cream really is a very nice addition, highly recommended.

The recipe is, surprise surprise, again from Syötävän hyvä. That girl is a powerhouse when it comes to amazing recipes and lovely food photography. Enjoy!

Raw brownies

(about 9 small squares)

Brownies

1 dl pecan nuts

a generous dl fresh, pitted dates

3 tbsp raw cacao powder

1 tbsp coconut oil, melted

a dash of salt

Topping

0,5 dl fresh, pitted dates

1 tbsp raw cacao powder

1 tbsp coconut oil, melted

ca. 2 tbsp water

Throw the nuts into a blender and blend till small but not yet powdery. Add dates, cacao powder and coconut oil and blend to a soft mass. I used a hand mixer, since I hate using blenders for date mixes (it just never works!). Also the hand mixer had a little hard time with the heavy mass, so if you have a small food processor attachment to your hand mixer, that might be the best option. Sweeten if desired, but the dates give ample sweetness in my opinion. Press the mass to the bottom of a rectangular/square dish.

Prepare the topping by mushing the ingredients together with a hand mixer. Add water till the consistency is spreadable-soft but not runny. Spread on top of the brownie mass. Put in the freezer until set (about an hour). Cut into cubes and store in the fridge. Serve with whipped coconut cream! 

Vegan gluten free bliss brownies

I'm on Koh Phangan again, yay! And baking for and selling coffee in Art Cafe. These vegan brownies turned out to be a real hit. The recipe is taken from here with slight modifications. Works also well doubled. And baked in about 160 degrees... Can't be sure as the weird magic oven I'm using doesn't have any temperature markings, but the previous owner thought 160 was close to the truth so I believe her.

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Koh Phanganilla jälleen! Art Cafessa myynnissä tämän tytön tekemiä supermeheviä browneja. Gluteenitonta ja vegaania hyvyyttä, ah. Resepti täältä, modattu olosuhteisiin sopivaksi. Toimii myös tuplana. Ja n. 160 asteisessa uunissa paistettuna (tarkempaa havaintoa kyseisen taikauunin lämpötilasta ei ole, mutta edellinen omistaja arveli 160 olevan lähellä totuutta).

Ultimate Vegan Gluten free Brownies

3 tablespoons chia seeds + 9 tablespoons water

½ cup extra virgin olive oil (125 milliliters)

2 tablespoons peanut butter

1 cup coconut sugar, or a mixture of coconut sugar and brown sugar (200 grams)

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (50 grams)

¼ cup rice flour (40 grams)

¼ cup tapioca starch (potato starch in the original recipe) (40 grams)

¾ cup mixture of oat and buckwheat flour (brown rice flour in the original recipe) (105 grams)

½ cup pecans/cashews (walnuts in the original recipe) (60 grams)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven at  180 º C (works also with 160).
2. Add the chia seeds and the water in a food processor, let sit for 10 min until a jelly forms. Add oil, peanut butter, sugars and blend. 
3. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix well.
4. Combine the dry and wet ingredients and mix well, or process in food processor. Add then uts and stir.
5. Pour the mixture in a baking pan with baking paper and bake at 180 º C for about 25 minutes or 160 around 30 mins.

Browniekeksit ja paluu arkeen

Hei! Me ollaan takas! Aloittelen tässä taas blogin henkiinherättelyä siis. Nimi pitäisi vaihtaa ja ulkoasua miettiä ja kaikenlaista, mutta otetaas ensin reseptiä.

Ensimmäiseksi leivonnaiseksi reissun jälkeen sai kunniaksi päätyä Lunnin ihanat browniekeksit. Koskapa mahani ei ilmeisesti vehnästä nykyisellään kauhesti tykkää (tutkimukset menossa...), niin olen alkanut vähän gluteenittomuutta esitellä meidän keittiöön. Nämä keksit tuunattiin siis vaihtamalla vehnäkset gluteenittomaan jauhoseokseen. Ja voi sitä onnen iloa kun kekseistä tulikin oikeen hyviä! Ajatelin jo, että alan itkemään jos nämä leviää pellin kokoiseksi lätyksi niinkuin koeleivonnaiset Thaimassa, joita testailin riisi- ja maissijauhoilla. Mutta näihinpä onkin lisätty viekkaasti jotain sitovaa ainesosaa (en nyt enää muista mitä, kun pussi on jo tyhjennetty säilytyspurkkiin), niin että sitkoa löytyy. Jippijee! Vähän näistä tuli huokoisia kun vatkasin taikinaa kuuden kuukauden leivontatauon innolla sähkövatkaimella, vaikka eihän sitä brownietaikinaa sais. Kostona siis pinnassa on ilmakuplia. Mutta hyviä oli! Vielä parempia kun malttoi ottaa uunista tarpeeksi aikaisin. Ja hyviä ovat vielä viikonkin päästä (vaikka ovatkin vähän kuivahtaneet).

Browniekeksit (n. 20 kpl)

260 g tummaa suklaata (kaakaopitoisuus oman maun mukaan n. 40%-70%)
25 g voita
2 munaa
1 1/2 dl sokeria
2 rkl espressoa
1 1/2 dl vehnäjauhoja / gluteenitonta jauhoseosta
1/4 tl leivinjauhetta

Laita uuni lämpenemään 175 asteeseen.
Pilko suklaasta 200 grammaa metallikulhoon, lisää voi. Sulata vesihauteessa ja laita sivuun jäähtymään.
Sekoita keskenään yhdessä kulhossa munat, sokeri ja jäähtynyt espresso, toisessa kulhossa vehnäjauhot ja leivinjauhe. Malta olla käyttämättä sähkövatkainta ainakaan liiaksi, ettei rakenteesta tule huokoinen niinkuin tässä versiossa.
Lisää suklaaseos munien joukkoon, vatkaa tasaiseksi seokseksi. Rouhi jäljelle jääneet suklaat ja lisää jauhojen kanssa taikinaan.
Ota taikinasta noin ruokalusikallisia ja tiputtele leivinpaperilla vuoratulle uuninpellille, jätä reilusti leviämisvaraa.
Paista 8-10 minuuttia, anna jäähtyä ritilällä ennen kuin irrotat leivinpaperista.

Vinkkejä:
- Taikina kannattaa laittaa hetkeksi jääkaappiin, niin siitä on helpompi annostella köntsiä leivinpaperille.
- Jos haluat tahmeamman sisuksen, ota keksit ulos uunista jo vähän ennen kuin ovat tikkutestin perusteella kypsiä.