Lifespan of a Chennette

Shiny Chocolatey Eggless Brownies

I wanted brownies today. Seemed the perfect thing to want during the excitement of World Cup. (Not really, I mean, I am enjoying the Group of 16, but it’s more like the “excitement” of trying to wrap up some work stuff that made me want chocolate). I don’t usually bake unless accompanied by a sibling (mostly Lilandra, who actually likes baking). That’s one way of not being tempted by sweet baked treats like brownies. Just don’t make them. But today I wanted them. Except I had no eggs (I’m out of a lot of things, but not making grocery just yet as I may be out of the country for a bit soon). Eggless diets have not stopped people from enjoying baked goods, however, so I decided to quickly try something.

I had flour, butter, Lindt dark chocolate, brown sugar, molasses…all sounds great, right? I did some quick googling and found that there were recipes which didn’t involve things like applesauce, or pumpkin puree…neither of which I had…I also don’t have any nut meal of any kind so that was another substitute option I could not use. But there are recipes which basically follow a brownie/batter recipe, just no eggs. So, this is what I ended up with (I winged it based on my quick readings and ingredients I wanted to use).

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup butter
• 3.5 oz good dark chocolate (Lindt 85% cocoa)
• 1 cup brewed coffee
• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

1. Using a double boiler (or a stainless steel bowl over a saucepan of water) melt the butter and chocolate together.

2. Mix coffee, sugar and molasses into the chocolate mixture.

3. Add flour, baking powder, salt, mix to combine.

4. Stir in walnuts.

5. Pour/spread evenly into a greased 9×13 baking pan.

6. Bake for 15-20 minutes until top is set but and the edges are just pulling away from the sides of the pan. If the edges look cooked but the centre is too moist for your liking, just turn off the oven and leave the pan in for another 5 minutes.

VERDICT – well, see for yourself. They were moist and chocolatey, held together very well and tasted great. When eaten hot there was smidgen of that pudding-y floury taste, but as it cooled that went away too. Although, this recipe from All Recipes uses a method of cooking some of the flour with water to deal that is apparently supposed to help this. I like chewy brownies, with a crackly top. These almost had a crackly top, but weren’t chewy. They were just dense and moist enough to not be cakey though, so overall I think it was a success. I think the molasses helps, but that has always been my secret brownie ingredient, so I am biased!

NOTE – I realise these are eggless, but NOT vegan. They were not intended to be, but I think the end result shows that with modifications, you can get a great brownie no matter the substitutions. After all, brownies are by nature more forgiving than cakes! For vegan, I would use a vegetable oil, and of course a completely non-dairy chocolate.

I can’t wait to try these again with the Lindt 99% chocolate bar! I wonder if some more butter would make it cracklier or chewier – any thoughts?