These are simple, old-fashioned cocoa brownies, vegan-style.
Lots of ground almonds are used for a really moist, soft, dense texture, with only a small amount of flour for structure.
The beauty of cocoa brownies is that you’ll probably have all the ingredients to hand without going shopping (chocolate, obviously, doesn’t tend to hang around – well, not if you’re the kind of person who’s going to be making brownies). You can always substitute vegan margarine for the coconut oil.
These are fairly soft at room temperature and have a light, crisp top, so they work well as dessert brownies. For firmer brownies, and to make it easy to cut them, chill them in the fridge.
The pictured brownies, which weren’t chilled (hence the crumbly appearance) were baked in a 6.5″ square tin and cut into nine squares.
Cocoa Brownies…
Ingredients
- 40 g cocoa powder
- 50 g plain flour
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 70 g ground almonds
- 140 g unrefined dark brown/muscovado sugar
- 80 ml oat (or other non-diary) milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 60 g coconut oil (preferably the mild/flavourless variety)
Method
- Set the oven to 180°C/360°F and lightly oil and line the base of a suitable tin. (The pictured brownies were baked in a 6.5″ square tin. For a large traybake tin you might need to double the quantities.)
- In a jug or small bowl, add the vanilla to the milk, then warm in the microwave before adding the coconut oil. Set aside to allow the oil to melt.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the cocoa, flour, baking powder and almonds until they are well combined.
- Add the sugar and stir through to ensure it’s evenly distributed.
- Whisk the oil and milk mixture – it won’t form an emulsion but will mix together more like a salad dressing.
- Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid mixture, stirring well as you go, to form a glossy cake batter.
- Transfer to the tin and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the edges are only just beginning to darken.
- Allow the brownies to cool completely, and ideally chill, before cutting.
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