Chocolate Brownies

Moist and yummy, these all-vegan chocolate brownies hit the spot and are pretty easy to make. Just get all your equipment and ingredients out ready and go for it!

Their lightness comes from adding either banana, apple sauce or cooked sweet potato - either of these three works well as an egg replacer. If you don't like banana flavour in cakes, use the apple sauce or sweet potato instead. Apple sauce can be bought in jars from most supermarkets and health food shops.

The brownies are suitable for a nut-free diet, although we have included nuts as an optional extra!

Chocolate brownies topped with fresh strawberries and dairy-free cream

Serves:

12-16, depending on how hungry you are

Time:

40-50 minutes: 10-20 minutes prep plus 30 minutes baking time

No nuts

No sesame

No soya

Ingredients:

Topping

60g/2oz margarine
4 tbsp/60g cocoa powder
4 tbsp soya milk
160g/scant 6oz brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence

Batter

¼ cup apple sauce* OR 1 small banana, mashed well OR 1 small sweet potato
125g/4½ oz white flour
2 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp cocoa powder
100g/3½ oz caster sugar
½ tsp salt
120ml/generous/ 4fl oz soya milk
2 tbsp vegetable oil
*try to get apple sauce that is unsweetened or low in sugar – or reduce sugar in the recipe by 2-3 tsp

Optional:

50g/2oz chopped nuts, eg pecan, hazelnut or walnut – reasonably sized, not crumbs!
50g/2oz vegan chocolate chips – ready-made or just crunch up some dark vegan chocolate into pieces with a rolling pin

Method:

1. If using the sweet potato, peel and chop into small pieces. Steam until tender then mash to a purée and set aside. Otherwise use the apple sauce or banana. Meanwhile, pre-heat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

2. Grease a good quality non-stick cake tin - 20cm/8in square - then cut a piece of baking parchment to cover the base. (Use a pencil to draw round the base of the cake tin to get the correct size.)

3. Make the topping first: combine topping ingredients in a saucepan. Slowly bring to boil and simmer for a minute, stirring well. Remove from heat and place in a bowl of cold water to reduce the temperature. Beat with a fork to thicken and cool then add vanilla essence. Set aside.

4.To make brownie batter: combine sifted flour, baking powder, cocoa, salt in a bowl with the nuts and choc chips.Into this batter mix, stir in the soya milk, sweet potato purée, banana or apple sauce and oil. Mix well.

5. Spread batter evenly inside the cake tin with a palette knife – it is fairly stiff – then pour the topping over evenly.

6. Bake for 30 minutes. Insert a sharp knife or toothpick into the centre. If it comes out clean the cake is ready – if not, return to the oven for another 5 minutes or so. Leave to cool then cut into 12 or 16 squares.