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
hello all! i'm starting today off on the right foot - did an assignment, ate breakfast, made coffee, read my horoscope, contacted my school about my master's degree.. now what? well, last night i decided to make granola, and i thought i would share the results/recipe with you. this is an extremely versatile recipe - i changed many things based on their availability. in fact, most of the ingredients were already in my pantry. convenient and simple.
"fool" proof granola
dry
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup almonds, chopped (you can leave them whole, they just won't distribute as evenly)
2 tbsp ground flax
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
handful of golden raisins
handful of dried cranberries
wet
3 tbsp all natural peanut butter (could use almond/other nut butter)
2 1/2 tbsp applesauce**
1/4 cup golden corn syrup (didn't have brown rice syrup)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
**i would stick to unsweeted applesauce. as much as possible, i use homemade - so i used homemade apple sauce made from last year's crabapples (which translates to sour).
stir together the dry ingredients (large bowl). stir together wet ingredients - you may want to heat the ingredients sans extract, then mix and add extract (medium bowl). mix the wet into the dry until combined. place on parchment lined baking sheet and cook at 325 F for about 35 minutes - stirring every 10-12 minutes. make sure that you have a nice even and thin layer, rather than a bulky uneven mess.
note: cooking time will vary - i prefer my granola nicely toasted and crunchy, as i eat it as cereal or in my oatmeal. i want texture! this granola does it.
xx take care, animal-friendly followers
ashley
