coconut and almond dark chocolate brownies

hello all! i'm sorry i haven't been updating often at all still.. i'm in the process of: switching jobs and finishing my degree. so, as of right now i have four jobs and a full course. luckily i only have three final exams, but that means three 5000 word papers as well.. anyways, last night i had a craving for brownies, and this is the recipe i came up with. availability of ingredients will definitely depend upon location..



ashley's vegan dark chocolate brownies
1 full (almost) bar 90% cocoa dark chocolate (my lindt bar was missing three squares, it was perfect)
1/2 bar camino coconut dark chocolate
1 small tub coconut spread

1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

2 cups brown sugar
4 flax eggs**
2 tsp pure vanilla
1 tsp espresso
1/4 cup unsweeted shredded coconut + topping (optional)
1/2 cup sliced almonds (optional)

**4 flax eggs: add 12 tbsp water to 4 tbsp ground flax seeds, stir, and allow to sit while you prepare your other ingredients

preheat oven to 350 F.  grease a 9 x 11 baking pan - you may line with foil if you find necessary, mine didn't stick too bad and i didn't use foil.

place the chocolate and coconut spread into a glass bowl (or double boiler) above simmering water - make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. stir until both are completely melted and remove the bowl from the pot. let this sit for a few minutes.

in a small to medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt.

in another medium bowl, whisk together sugar, flax eggs, vanilla and espresso. pour the chocolate mixture into the sugar mixture. whisk until completely incorporated. add the flour mixture all at once, and mix to incorporate. add the shredded coconut and almonds (optional).

pour into prepared pan and bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.  at this stage, turn your broiler on, and cover the brownies with coconut - you want this coconut to be a light to medium brown. be very careful not to burn. take out, allow to cool, and enjoy.

my favourite part of this recipe is its versatility - you can virtually flavour these chocolate brownies with anything. earlier this month, i made these with mint dark chocolate - they were to die for!

again, i'm sorry for not keeping you updated, but i did make a delicious batch of stuffed peppers last night, which i'll share tomorrow :)

take care, animal-friendly followers,
xx ashley