Scrum-Diddly-Umptious Vegan Brownies

"That's right, vegan brownies that actually taste GOOD. What's more, they don't involve a bunch of ridiculous health food store ingredients and they're super quick to make. Mmmm...tasty easy moist healthy brownies. I don't know about you, but I'm sold! (And I'm not even vegan)"
 
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photo by Chef Joey Z. photo by Chef Joey Z.
photo by Chef Joey Z.
photo by Mikeyla S. photo by Mikeyla S.
photo by Shea 2 photo by Shea 2
photo by Shea 2 photo by Shea 2
photo by Healthy Baker photo by Healthy Baker
Ready In:
40mins
Ingredients:
11
Yields:
9 brownies
Serves:
9
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ingredients

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directions

  • Preheat oven to 350 and lightly spray or oil an 8 x 8 baking pan.
  • Mix applesauce, sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl. In another bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt (and cinnamon if using) together.
  • Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the applesauce mixture. Mix until just combined. Gently fold in chocolate chips (and walnuts if using).
  • Spread in prepared pan and bake 25-30 min, until center is firm and not sticky. Cool completely before slicing.

Questions & Replies

  1. Can I double the recipe and get good results
     
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Reviews

  1. These brownies are awesome; they have become a staple for me to make for parties, work, edible gifts, etc.<br/>Obviously great for vegans, but my omnivore friends always ask for the recipe, too! So easy, and amazing texture...<br/><br/>One tip: I leave these (covered) for at least 12 hours (preferable a day in advance) before serving, so they develop a particularly moist, chewy texture, but also because the apple sauce/puree tends to need a few hours to settle in and not give it a strong taste.<br/><br/>They are definitely perfection after 12 hours, though.
     
  2. This recipe did not work out for me. The texture was gummy and the consistency was too cakey. I was making them for friends and I couldn't even give them to anyone b/c they ABSOLUTELY tasted like "healthy" brownies and they completely fell apart when I cut them up. Next time I am going to go for the full fat gooey brownies, which I know everyone will love:)
     
  3. These were the most disgusting brownies EVER. I thought the chocolate would cover up the taste of the applesauce, but it still came through. The texture was all wrong, they were slimey and rubbery. Don't waste your time with this. <br/><br/>Also, just because it has appleasauce in it doesn't mean it's healthy.
     
  4. Ok, first off brownies need some fat. These are not healthy. White flour, white sugar.. hello not healthy. I made these with sifted whole soft wheat, otherwise followed the recipe. These were rubbery and chewy. The chocolate chips are all that saved it. These were more like cake, NOT brownies. They had no flavor, except for the chocolate chips. I might try it again and tweek it by adding 1/4 cup canola or olive oil. Also cut the baking powder and baking soda in half. Also too much salt. I would cut that in half as well. Couldn't even taste the cinnamon. Didn't need it, it was a waste of a great spice. I only baked these 20 minutes and most likely 12 to 15 would have been plenty since there is no egg so no need to worry about food poisoning. NONE of my kids liked these either.
     
  5. I'm newly vegan. These were absolutely disgusting. Weird cakey spongey texture, bitter weird taste that sort of reminded me of play-do. Gross. Anyone that gives this 5 stars has forgotten what real brownies taste like.
     
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Tweaks

  1. Totally yummy! I made a couple of changes due to availability of ingredients in my kitchen (like part lowfat soy vanilla yogurt in place of part of the apple sauce) but they still came out delicious! I chopped up the chocolate chips a little and there are tiny chunks of melty chocolate in every bite of brownie...mmm. :) And just fyi the texture is very nice--sort of in between cakelike and chewy. Thanks to chiclet for sharing these w/us!
     
  2. First vegan recipe I've made and they were wonderful! Next time will try using agave syrup or brown rice syrup instead of sugar. Thank you for posting!
     
  3. fabulous flavour but the texture was somewhat chewy/doughy. Will definately make again. Not particularly healthy but better than some. I used spelt flour instead. Have used hazelnuts instead of walnuts a couple of times. I think they are better the next day, they firm up a bit better. I also used Lindt 70% cocoa chocolate which has no dairy in it. I also added nutmeg
     
  4. First of all, I am so pleased to toss all of my previously used brownie recipes! This one is so easy and delicious, I need no other. After reading the other reviews that indicated these might be a little on the cakey side, I substituted 1/4 cup of the flour with whole wheat to get a denser consistency. That worked well and I think it can take some more, so next time, I'll make it half and half in order to make these more healthful and just a little bit denser. The only thing else I changed is that I used Dutch process cocoa. Since they had great cocoa flavor, I'll continue using that with this recipe. I did not include the nuts or cinnamon, but would like to try the nuts in the future. I would also like to try to reduce the baking powder slightly to reduce the sodium. I had some unsweetened home-style applesauce from an orchard. I don't know if that made a difference or not in how delicious they were. I'll find out when I run out. I took them to a potluck vegan dinner. There were 5 other people who voted 5 out of stars. One thought there was too many chocolate chips, but another said that was just the way she liked them, as do I.
     
  5. I just made these brownies, and I thought they were great. I used chopped up dairy free chocolate instead of chocolate chips, and they turned out great. Don't feel guilty eating these..
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

Books and cooking are my passions...I love cookbooks by default. I will begin working on a Masters in English this coming fall...hopefully I'll still have time to cook! Someday I'd like to be able to publish my own cookbook from my family's recipes, but for now I'm just going to concentrate on getting my degree and becoming a better cook. I have an amazing boyfriend who, at 30, is just learning how to like vegetables and two rad, stripey cats.
 
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