Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Fudgy Egg-Free Brownies (with Vegan Alternative)

Fudgy Egg-Free Brownies

I was searching online for an egg-free brownie recipe and the first one that came up was from allrecipes.com. There were a lot of positive reviews for it so I thought I'd give it a try. It's quite an interesting technique. The first step is to cook flour and water in a saucepan until thick. This was a little strange because, if I remember correctly, this is exactly how I made paste when I was a little kid. I even read the recipe twice to make sure I was following it correctly. Hmmm, let's see how this turns out...

Well, the resulting brownie was suprisingly good. It was light and cakey, which isn't exactly the way I like my brownies, but nonetheless I was impressed. I made some slight adjustments to this original recipe so I could turn it into a fudgy, chewy brownie.

(Update: I added instant espresso powder to the brownie batter and it made them taste even better! You know what can top that? Add in some mini chocolate chips. )

Fudgy Egg-Free Brownies
Makes 12 brownies
Allergy note: contains wheat and dairy (see notes for dairy-free alternative)

1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter*
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon honey*
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)
*
*Vegan brownies: replace butter with vegetable oil, allowed margarine, or coconut oil (melted). Replace honey with agave syrup, maple syrup or corn syrup. For chocolate chips, try Enjoy Life Brand.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper. In a heavy saucepan combine the 1/3 cup of flour and water. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until thick. Transfer to a mixing bowl and set aside to cool.

In a small saucepan, melt butter. When butter has melted, add the oil, cocoa powder and instant espresso powder; mix until smooth; set aside to cool. Beat the sugars, vanilla and honey into the cooled flour mixture. Stir in the cocoa mixture until well blended. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, stir into the batter until just blended. Fold in mini chocolate chips. Spread evenly in the prepared pan.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. The brownie will be dry on the surface but the batter will still be wet when a toothpick is inserted in the center. The brownie might fall in the middle; that's okay. Cool completely then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Flip the brownie over to a cutting board. Peel off the parchment paper and cut the brownie into bars.

19 comments:

lisaiscooking said...

Interesting technique! Your brownies look fantastic.

Elyse said...

How interesting! I don't think I've ever seen a brownie that begins with a cooked flour paste. Intriguing!! I can't wait to see if you make any changes to make these brownies fudgy! Right now, they certainly look delicious. They'd be perfect with some Rice Dream "ice cream."

Navita (Gupta) Hakim said...

WOW...thats certainly new to me...and I am going by your word on these....bookmarked :)

Rumela said...

Wow!! I like this fudgy egg-free brownies recipe. these brownies recipe are sure to taste great and are extremely nutritious as well. I am going to make a batch for the holidays when my kids will be at home. I'll be sure that what they are eating is healthy. thank you for shearing your post.

Unknown said...

My 5 year old son is allergic to eggs and peanuts. I have found Divvies chocolate cupcakes to be great but no cookie or brownie recipes that tasted "normal". I made your egg free brownie recipe last night and they were GREAT! They held together well and were very moist. The only substitution that I made was a tablespoon of agave syrup for the honey because we had none. This will go on my short list of yummy egg free desserts.

Elisa said...

These are fabulous, I had also found the recipe on allrecipes.com but I like a chewier brownie, so I was looking for that when I came across yours. I am a Nanny for 2 boys, the 4 year-old has multiple allergies including nut and egg, so I am always looking for alternatives. I made these for his mom's book group tonight and they were a big hit!! Thank you so much for all the recipes, I will be trying many more!

Anonymous said...

thank you for this recipe ! we had to prepare les desserts for a "cousinade" here in France and one of the cousins is allergic to eggs : this recipe was a success, even for the 20 cousins NOT allergic to eggs ! N.

Unknown said...

My kids are allergic to milk and eggs. I have made this twice and LOVE it. My daughter really enjoys it. It's great to have a brownie alternative that looks and tastes great. Thanks for helping us normalize our world! D

Anonymous said...

We ran out of eggs so I made these and they are delicious!! I love how they are nice and moist because I often have the problem of my baking being too dry! Only thing preventing them from being perfect were that they were a little too sweet, but I guess you can alter the amount of sugar :)

Anonymous said...

I was so excited to find your blog. I have used several of your recipes and they are FANTASTIC! My daughter is allergic to egg and tree nuts and you can not tell the ingredient is missing. A few people have even asked me for your cookie recipes. Thanks for sharing :) We really appreciate it!

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much. Finally, I've found an easy, successful vegan brownie recipe. :) The texture is excellent, the cohesiveness is great. (They're like real brownies!) I had to cook them for twice as much time as advertised (no big deal), and in my opinion they could be a little more chocolatey (and I used 3/4 c of chocolate instead of 2/3), but that can be remedied easily enough, I'm sure. Again, thank you, thank you, thank you!

Anonymous said...

My oldest son has an egg allergy as well as a peanut allergy, so baking has become a challenge lately. I was so excited to find your blog! I made these brownies a couple weeks ago, but Im making them again today, and I think I'm going to add chocolate chips to the batter to add a little extra bit of chocolate.

Anonymous said...

These brownies are wonderful :) I have a few vegan friends so when we have potlucks I like to make things that everyone can eat!

I only had a 9x9 inch pan so I cooked it for about 15 minutes longer than asked. Thanks for the recipe!!!

Anonymous said...

These brownies are BY FAR the best brownies that I have tasted! Since my son was diagnosed with an egg & nut allergy it's been a struggle baking for him (and I'm a dietitian). This site is wonderful and so is this recipe. It's accurate and detailed! Thank you and can't wait to try more!

Sarah V. said...

These brownies had great texture, but for us the chocolate flavor was tainted a bit by a distinct floury gluey tinge, as if someone had mixed the beginnings of some gravy into a brownie mix, which is of course exactly what the recipe does. We added a simple and tasty frosting (from Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Cake recipe) and topped the brownies with some very dark chocolate (grated), but the extra chocolate didn't mask the flavor of paste. I think next time I'll go for a savory egg free bread when I want a baked good, and just enjoy the dark chocolate pieces on their own.

Michelle Nicholson said...

My father is allergic to egg and dairy but loves brownies I'm going to make this for him tonight going over to spend the day tomorrow thank you they look awesome :)

Cares and Mimi said...

Thank you for this recipe, it's wonderful! Used it to make brownie Santa Hats for my daughter's Christmas party yesterday (there's a child with an egg allergy in her class). Everyone loved them!

Art of Dessert said...

What a great idea Cares and Mimi! Thank you for trying and liking my recipe!

Unknown said...

I tried your recipe last night and the brownies were delicious!

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