Every year I bake brownies for Luna Yoga Teacher Training graduation. What better way to celebrate life's accomplishments than with chocolate? There are thousands of vegan brownie recipes out there, and I look for every opportunity to try another one from the list. In the past months I've been cooking a lot with canned chickpeas and I save the liquid for vegan meringues and marshmallows (the liquid freezes really well!). So when I saw a brownie recipe with aquafaba (that's the liquid that comes from canned beans), I was excited to try it out.
You can learn all about aquafaba here: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/aquafaba#section4 and try different recipes as a vegan sub for eggs or dairy.
The brownies were delicious! I tried two batches, the first with gluten free (I used Robin Hood) flour and the second with unbleached white flour. I baked them in mini muffin tins for 12 minutes and to keep things nut-free I left out the walnuts. Other than those modifications, I followed the recipe as written. Thanks to #ilovevegan for creating this recipe. And congratulations to all of the new Luna grads!
Fudgy Vegan Brownies
( https://www.ilovevegan.com/fudgy-vegan-walnut-brownies/ )
Yield: 9 squares
Ingredients
2/3 cup coconut oil
180g chopped vegan dark chocolate
1/2 cup aquafaba (the juice from a can of “no salt added” chickpeas)
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp golden brown sugar
1 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp espresso or strong black coffee
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325F. Line a 8″x 8″pan with parchment paper.
In a stand mixer, beat the aquafaba and brown sugar on high until it becomes thick, shiny, and voluminous.
In a double boiler over medium heat, combine the chocolate and coconut oil. Stir until completely melted and set aside to cool. (For quicker cooling, place the bowl in an ice bath and stir constantly until the chocolate is no longer warm.)
Sift together the flour, cocoa, sea salt and baking soda.
Gently mix the cooled, melted chocolate into whipped aquafaba/sugar mixture, followed by the espresso, and then the dry ingredients. Add the walnuts and chocolate chips. Stir slowly until the batter is thick and well combined.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Optional: Top with extra chopped walnuts.
Notes
Choose refined (or the cheapest) coconut oil if you don’t want your brownies to taste like coconut. High quality, organic coconut oils taste stronger.