Vegan Brownies

[carrot_wench]

I'll admit that I was a little skeptical of the lack of oil or an appropriate substitute, but these turned out pretty yummy anyhow!  I thought that brownie fudgeyness was achieved by either a high oil content or by a closer flour : sugar ratio (this one's only 2:1!), but this recipe yielded just the right fudgey texture that I wanted...because we all know that fudgey > cakey when it comes to brownies!

I also like that these aren't overpoweringly sweet, which makes them perfect to top with a thin layer of sugary indulgence....in my case, I attempted to make a chocolate frosting from one of the recipes on this site....I screwed something up, because it turned out rather gelatinous    .  Luckily, these brownies were good enough that I didn't really care!

next time I try these (and I know I will!), I'm just going to stick to chocolate chips or nuts for the topping.

[starrygirl1120]

Ok I just made these and thought they were awful!
They were chewy, rubbery, and not sweet enough. I don't know what could be done to fix them.. if anything.

[petite minotaure]

terrible for me! i rechecked the ingredients and recipe and i did everything right. they tasted like flour. the texture was not gooey brownie like but dry and thick. they weren't chocolately enough at all. Nobody else tastes the flour?

[aziz_esroh]

Someone had some of those evil chocolate chip trader joe's mini-cakes in the fridge, so I felt the need to make brownies. These seemed like they would be easy, which they are, but product--not so hot. I added more cocoa powder (it ended up being about 2/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder) as well as a bunch more cinnamon (approx. 1.27 tsp total). The cinnamon taste is good, so if anyone else makes these use lots of it! I think they will be better after they are cold, also. If they are significantly better, I will review again.

[aziz_esroh]

They are much better cold! I can't really taste the cinnamon anymore though. I forgot to add I used water instead of soy milk.

[useyourhead]

these brownies did have the consistency of rubber, they weren't fluffy or even really brownie like at all...kind of disappointing

[carrot_wench]

....hm.
when I made these the second time, they did turn out more rubbery than fudgey-chewy...and I have no idea what I might have done differently this time.

Maybe this is one of those recipes that is super-sensitive to over-mixing, or one that's really particular about oven temp/time.

MY ADVICE:

• Thoroughly mix the liquids and sugar together first.
  (maybe add a few tablespoons of oil to this?)
• Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
• Make a well in the bowl of dry ingredients, and slowly pour the wet stuff in while stirring it all in.
• do NOT overmix! Typically, the more you stir, the more dense your end product will be.
• Bake in a fully preheated oven, and check at 24 minutes or so to prevent overbaking.

.....and, I realize this isn't as sweet as most brownie recipes...The flour is double the amount of sugar here, so if you want a supersweet brownie, I suppose this recipe isn't what you're looking for.

taste-wise, they might need a tad more cocoa powder to up the chocolateyness...and definitely use a milk-like liquid, perhaps a flavored/sweetened one for added taste.  When it turns out right, I think that this is a good recipe for a not-too-sweet brownie that's meant to be topped with some sort of indulgence (frosting, etc.).