November 15, 2019 - Foodie Friday featuring best ever vegan brownie recipe

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Foodie Friday featuring best ever vegan brownie recipe

Howdy folks and happy Friday!!  
What an absolutely lovely day it is here on Long Island!!
And, the temperature actually feels "warm" since it rose back into the 50's.

I sat outside with my fur baby Punkin to take in some Vitamin D, which was such a joy since the past few days have been very cold to sit and enjoy the sunshine.

I had a chance to chat with Tanya this morning. So good when we can catch up!  She is back in SoCal and will be heading out again in 3 days for Seattle.  In the interim however, we will be reviewing some important information for future resources for our followers for a current publishing project we are working on!!

Stay tuned!!!


In other news...
Foodie Friday - Vegan Recipe

With today being Foodie Friday, so too am I thrilled to bring you another Vegan recipe!!

This time, I went all out sweet!  That's right.  Bringing you a wonderful vegan brownie recipe.  I mean, c'mon, who doesn't love brownies!  And with the right recipe where the end result is soft and fudgy and moist, you'll fool a non-vegan as well!!

I found this recipe while searching the internet a while ago when me and Gianna were in the mood for dairy-free brownies, prior to become a full-out vegan.

Our tastebuds were dancing away when we finally tasted our finished product.

We did, however, follow the author's instructions to a tee and fortunately for all of us, she did quite a bit of research prior to pulling together this wonderful recipe.

Nora from NoraCooks.com, makes a few suggestions on specific ingredient brands to achieve the ultimate "best-ever" brownie.

For any great brownie, good chocolate is key and Nora suggests Trader Joe’s semi-sweet chocolate chips because they happen to be vegan and are quite inexpensive. Additionally, the creator recommends Trader Joe’s unsweetened cocoa powder.

She says, "Hershey’s unsweetened is also a good option. I would not recommend you use a dutch cocoa powder, as you will get different results."

(photo credit: noracooks.com)

Best Ever Vegan Brownies Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons ground flax
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegan butter (earth balance brand), melted *see instructions
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup non-dairy chocolate chips OR roughly chopped chocolate pieces

​Instructions

• Make the flax eggs by stirring the ground flax and water in a small bowl. Set aside to thicken. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 7 x 11 pan with parchment paper.
• Melt the vegan butter (earth balance brand preferred), and measure 1/2 cup. I do this by microwaving the vegan butter in a glass measuring cup, in 30 second intervals, until melted.
• In a large bowl, whisk the melted vegan butter and sugars together. Add the flax eggs and vanilla, whisk until evenly combined.
• Over the same large bowl, sift in the flour and cocoa powder. Add the salt and baking powder and stir with a large wooden spoon until just combined, do not over mix. 
• Fold in half of the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth out the top with a spoon or your hands. Sprinkle the rest of the chocolate chips on top of the batter.
• Bake for 35-40 minutes. The brownies may still be bubbling and not look done, but they will firm up a lot as they cool.
• Remove from the oven, allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then pull the brownies out, using the parchment paper and let cool for another 15-30 minutes before slicing and serving.​

Our plan is to make these for Christmas at my sister's house this year!!

Here's to a great start to your weekend!

-Travelin' Elisa
xoxo