My husband Jon is a card-carrying brownie lover. Not just any brownies — he especially likes chocolatey brownies with lots of nuts, and he prefers a cakey texture (as opposed to fudgy). Perhaps second only to his penchant for cakey nutty brownies is his devotion to all things coconut. The idea of combining these elements to create his “dream brownie” was the inspiration for “Nutty Chocolate Brownies,” which will appear in my upcoming book, 1,000 Vegan Recipes, coming out later this year.
Jon couldn’t even wait for these brownies to cool out of the oven, much less until the book comes out, so you shouldn’t have to either — the recipe is below. Another great thing about these brownies is their versatility: if you’re not a fan of coconut, leave out the coconut extract and shredded coconut and use soy milk or other non-dairy milk instead of the coconut milk. If you don’t like pecans, swap them for another nut. You can even leave the nuts out entirely, but then they wouldn’t be very nutty brownies, would they?
Nutty Chocolate Brownies
This recipe is from 1,000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson © 2009.
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup neutral vegetable oil
3/4 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1/2 cup coarsely chopped raw pecans
1/2 cup vegan semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the sugar and oil until well blended. Stir in the coconut milk, vanilla and coconut extracts, and blend until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring to blend. Fold in the pecans, chocolate chips, and coconut.
3. Scrape the batter into the prepared baking pan, and bake until the center is set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Let the brownies cool 30 minutes before serving.
Chocolate and mint go so well together, and now that candy canes are everywhere, I just had to mix the two. If you want to skip the chocolate for pure candy cane bliss, just follow the recipe variation listed below.
2 c. soy creamer (or any non-dairy milk)
1 c. soy milk (or any non-dairy milk)
¾ c. sugar
1½ c. chocolate chips
2 T. arrowroot
1 t. vanilla extract
2 t. peppermint extract
1 c. chopped candy canes
Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.
Mix the soy creamer, soy milk, sugar, and chocolate chips together in a saucepan. Heat gently until the chocolate melts, then bring to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).
Add the vanilla and peppermint extracts.
Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add the chopped candy canes in the last 5 minutes of freezing.
Variation:
Candy Cane: Omit the chocolate chips. Add an additional cup soy milk.
This ice cream recipe has two awesome results. The first, obviously, is the ice cream. The second is that you have to make carrot cake, and you won’t use it all, so you’ll also have carrot cake! You can eat carrot cake topped with carrot cake ice cream! It’s carrot cake insanity!
I used the carrot cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, but you can use any carrot cake you want. But seriously, y’all, the recipe in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World is freaking fantastic—absolutely the best carrot cake I’ve ever had. I also use the vegan cream cheese frosting recipe in the book, but I decrease the margarine and increase the cream cheese for a little more zing. Please note that the carrot cake chunks in the ice cream are unfrosted—wait to frost the remaining cake/cupcakes until after you’ve taken out the cake you need for the ice cream.
2 c. soy creamer (or other non-dairy milk)
½ c. soy milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1 8-ounce container vegan cream cheese
¾ c. brown sugar
½ t. cinnamon
¼ t. powdered ginger
pinch allspice (optional)
pinch nutmeg (optional)
2 T. arrowroot
1 t. vanilla
2 c. crumbled carrot cake chunks
Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.
Mix the soy creamer, soy milk, vegan cream cheese, sugar, and spices together in a saucepan, and heat. As the mixture is heating, gently whisk the ingredients together to break apart the cream cheese. By the time the mixture starts to boil, the cream cheese should be completely mixed in. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).
Stir in vanilla extract.
Set aside the ice cream mixture to cool. While this is cooling, line a baking sheet with waxed paper or parchment paper. Spread the carrot cake chunks across the baking sheet and place in the freezer. If you do not freeze the carrot cake chunks, they will crumble completely when you add them at the end of the freezing process. This still produces an awesome ice cream, but if you want chunks of carrot cake in your finished product, you need to freeze the cake pieces in advance.
Freeze ice cream mixture according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. In the last five minutes of freezing, drop in the individually frozen pieces of carrot cake.
Valentine’s Day is a perfect special occasion to indulge in something really decadent with your loved ones. However, one of the biggest problems with indulging is the indigestion and feeling of heaviness that accompanies most baked goods. Nothing ruins romance like an upset stomach or feeling bloated and too-full.
These Love Bites are gluten-free for easy digestion. They have a complex yet classic combination of flavors which is rich and satisfying, yet their petite size makes them a perfect end to your meal, that won’t leave you or your sweetheart’s tummies feeling overstuffed.
Love Bites
Christina TerriquezYields: 20 servings
1 recipe Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake
1 recipe Crème Anglaise for garnishing, optional1/4 cup organic juice sweetened raspberry preserves, diluted
with 1 or 2 teaspoons of water3/4 cup organic unsweetened non dairy milk, like soy, oat,
coconut, almond, rice, etc.
1/2 cup organic grain-sweetened chocolate chipsorganic fresh raspberries for garnishing, optional
Directions
Prepare Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake and Crème Anglaise according to recipes.Place chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl. In a saucepan, heat soymilk over medium-high heat until soymilk just begins to boil. Pour hot soymilk over chocolate chips and let stand for two minutes. Whisk soymilk and chocolate together until a smooth homogeneous texture is achieved.
To assemble Love Bites:
Place a wire cooling rack over a cookie sheet.Cut off any crisp or tough edges of Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake and set aside for other uses. Cut remaining cake into individual servings using a small heart cookie cutter, or cut into 1 inch squares. If using a cookie cutter, make sure it is no more than 2 inches by 2 inches.
Cut heart in half, so that you have doubled the amount of hearts.
Spread 1/4–1/2 teaspoon of thinned raspberry preserves over the top of half of the hearts, then place another heart on top, creating a sandwich.
Place heart sandwiches on a wire rack/cookie sheet set up. Slowly pour chocolate sauce over each heart, allowing some chocolate to flow down the sides of each heart If chocolate has thickened, heat it or whisk in a tablespoon or two of more nondairy milk. Decorate hearts with raspberries while chocolate is still soft, if desired.
Place chilled and whipped Crème Anglaise in a small plastic bag and cut the very tip of one corner off the bag. Use the bag to gently drizzle crème over each heart.
Allow chocolate and crème to set up. Share with your loved ones.
Variations
Try using a different flavor of preserves or Cashew Crème.Substitute your favorite cake recipe for the Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake.
Add 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract to soymilk before boiling.
Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake
Christina TerriquezYields: 9–16 servings
1/3 cup organic quinoa flour
1/4 cup organic chick pea flour
1/4 cup organic white rice flour
1/3 cup organic, free-trade cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon organic ground cinnamon, optional
1/4 cup organic safflower oil
5/8 cup organic unsweetened soy milk or coconut milk (1/2 cup
plus 2 tablespoons)
1 1/2 teaspoons organic white wine vinegar
1/2 cup organic agave nectar
1/8 teaspoon unrefined sea salt, Lima or SI brand recommended
1 tablespoon organic ground flax meal
1/4 cup filtered or spring water
1/2 teaspoon organic vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon organic almond extract, optionalDirections
Preheat over to 350° F.Prepare one 8 inch square cake pan by lightly brushing with safflower oil, then lining with an 8×16 inch piece of unbleached parchment. Set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, sift flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon together.
In a large bowl, mix remaining ingredients together. Add dry ingredients and gently mix to incorporate.
Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30–50 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow cake to cool completely on cooling rack. Run a knife along the edges of the cake, and use long ends of parchment to gently remove cake from baking pan.
Variations
Double this recipe for a two–layer 8 inch square cake.Frost with Creamy Chocolate frosting, chocolate ganache, Tofu Cream Icing, Cashew Creme, or serve with Orange Blossom Syrup.
Garnish with a fruit sauce made with fruit sweetened preserves diluted in apple juice or water and thickened with kuzu.
Crème Anglaise
Christina Terriquez3/4 cup organic unsweetened soymilk
2 tablespoons agar flakes
1 organic vanilla bean
1/3 cup organic coconut milk
1/4 cup organic light agave nectar
1/4 cup organic amasake
1 tablespoon organic vanilla extract
1 tablespoon organic coconut oil, optionalDirections
In a medium saucepan, combine soy milk and agar flakes and let rest for 10 minutes.While agar and soymilk are resting, split vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Scrape the tiny black seeds from each half, and put vanilla seeds and pod into soymilk.
Add remaining ingredients to saucepan and simmer for 10–15 minutes, until agar flakes have dissolved and sauce has thickened slightly. Remove vanilla pod from sauce. Remove from heat and blend in blender or with immersion wand once again. Use immediately for glazing.
If using sauce for garnishing, cool until set. After sauce has set, purée in blender or with immersion wand. Sauce should be soft custard consistency.
Notes
Crème Anglaise is usually made with cream, refined sugar, egg yolks and vanilla beans. This vegan version is much healthier for your heart.Store it in a squeeze bottle (this is a perfect use for your agave nectar bottles when you’ve used all the agave inside), and use it to garnish any other desserts you make that week.
Make a double or triple batch and put it in an ice cream maker for a rich, French Vanilla-style ice cream.
Below you’ll discover two recipes for prickly pear ice lotion: the recipe I really created, and the recipe I would ultimately like to create. See, I utilized to reside in Arizona, exactly where I took prickly pear fruit for granted. You can just walk out for your yard (or your neighbor’s) and choose the prickly pears. Now I’m in Seattle and have an excellent plum tree, but no cacti. My mother-in-law graciously gave me a bottle of prickly pear syrup, which I utilized in the very first recipe beneath. The syrup would make an excellent addition to lemonade or margaritas, but sadly tasted much more like sugar than prickly pear. (This didn’t maintain us from enjoying the ice lotion, thoughts you!) I believe if I could discover prickly pear concentrate, this technique would create much better outcomes.
The second recipe is what I will attempt to create when I get my greedy small paws on some prickly pears. It’ll also be an excellent opportunity to make use of agave nectar in ice lotion, because you will have this entire desert point heading on.
Recipe #1:
2 c. soy creamer, or any non-dairy milk
1 ½ c. soy milk, or any non-dairy milk
¾ c. prickly pear syrup
2 T. lime juice
2 T. arrowroot powder
2 – 4 T. tequila (optional)
Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.
Mix the soy creamer, soy milk, prickly pear syrup, and lime juice together in a saucepan. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).
Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. After the mixture is cool, stir in the tequila, if using. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.
Recipe #2:
5 – 6 ripe prickly pear fruits
2 c. soy creamer, or any non-dairy milk
1 ½ c. soy milk, or any non-dairy milk
½ c. sugar (or ¼ c. agave nectar)
2 T. lime juice
2 T. arrowroot powder
2 – 4 T. tequila (optional)
Carefully (they have spines!!!) peel the prickly pears and puree in a food processor.
Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.
Mix the pureed prickly pears, soy creamer, soy milk, lime juice, and sugar (or agave nectar) together in a sauce pan. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).
Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. After the mixture is cool, stir in the tequila, if using. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.
Vege Island