Saturday 3 September 2011

Squidgy chocolate squares - unconventional brownies


I really fancied a rich chocolate square, brownie like but not a brownie, if that makes sense. After some hunting I came across this recipe for vegan brownies on allrecipes.co.uk and it seemed to fit the bill.

As usual, I adapted the recipe slightly, un-veganising it (sorry!) to include some butter (I'm sure it would work really well as stated though!) and halving the recipe. I made it in an 8" square tin, but next time I think it would be better in a smaller tin, to make a thicker square.


Squidgy chocolate squares
Ingredients
125g plain flour
175g demerara sugar
32g cocoa powder
1/2tsp baking powder
1/2tsp salt
125ml water
62ml light olive oil
62g butter, melted
1/2tsp vanilla extract (or 1tsp if not using chocolate essence)
1/2tsp chocolate essence (optional)

Method
- Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Grease and line an 8" square tin, or a slightly smaller one for thicker squares, but be prepared to adjust baking time.
- Mix flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
- Add the water, olive oil, butter, vanilla extract and chocolate essence if using.
- Mix well, pour into prepared tin and level.
- Bake for 25-35 minutes, depending on how squidgy you want the middle! (I think mine took about 35 minutes)
- Allow to cool, and very, very carefully remove from the tin. I wasn't careful enough and mine broke, but they were still delicious!


I really enjoyed these - they were deliciously fudgy and gooey in the middle - fabulous! I think next time I'll try them with either light or dark muscovado sugar or perhaps half and half of each, to add a little more depth of flavour to the sweetness. I might also add some chocolate chunks or some dried cranberries too, but wanted to make the recipe as stated first time round to make sure it wasn't a complete disaster!

13 comments:

Anna's kitchen table said...

They look really good! I'm going through a bit of a brownie phase at the minute, so these are right up my street!

Brownieville Girl said...

Vegan or not, these look totally delicious!

Janice said...

quite a chocolate hit there.

My Life As An Anonymous Blogger said...

Hmmm, that looks delicious!

Alicia Foodycat said...

They look wonderful! Always nice to have a vegan treat up your sleeve just in case!

Chele said...

Mmmmmmmm, looking at those photos I'm now thinking of a square of squidgy-ness and clotted cream ....

Johanna GGG said...

brownies are great but it is good to have less a more healthy version for days when you just want chocolate without the decadence

The Caked Crusader said...

Brown sugar and chocolate is always a rich, lovely combination

Anonymous said...

I've got brownies on my hit list for this afternoon...actually I had better get cracking.

Anne said...

Ooh they look nice and glossy! I probably would of un-veganed them too!

Am having to use up lots of baking stuff for moving so will be put to good use with the tweakings!

Anonymous said...

I love a good squidgy brownie! These look lovely, and I love the addition of butter too! :)

Caroline said...

Anna - your brownies look delicious, I really want to try those Mary Berry ones!

BVG - thank you!

Janice - indeed! Pretty intense!

Anon - thanks!

Foodycat - yes, important to be able to please everyone. I'd just need to follow the original recipe, obviously butter would be no-go!

Chele - mmmm, clotted cream! Fab indeed!

Johanna - yes, it's good to have a range of chocolately treats for all occasions!

CC - it is, and I'm fully intending to try these with muscovado sugar too. Mmmm.

Brydie - I bet yours were lovely, and much appreciated by the Monkeys!

Anne - good luck with moving!

Celia - Yes, I'm going to try and be braver about leaving the squidge in the brownie instead of baking it out!

Choclette said...

These look good and it's always useful to have a few vegan recipes up one's sleeve. You've reminded me about the chocolate essence again. How chocolatey is it? I must try and make some myself - in fact I'm going to do it write now.

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