So, I’ve been blogging about the dinners I’ve been making, but I’ve left out the desserts that have accompanied said dinners.
First up is my batch of Deluxe Cocoa Brownies. The recipe is in the book Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.
I made my first batch (yes, I said first) early last week. I’d had my eye on that recipe the moment I’d seen it while thumbing through my book after it arrived in the mail.
The first batch was good, but it was a teensy bit overcooked. Brownies can be a bit difficult to bake simply because you don’t want them too gooey, but you also need the batter done enough to eat.
Although my family enjoyed the brownies, I was determined to make them better, so I headed back to the store and bought a couple of different items.
The first was a silky tofu, which is part of the recipe.
Although I’ve been a vegan for over two years, I haven’t fully embraced all of the specific ingredients used to cook these types of dishes. The staple of my diet has been beans, fruits, and vegetables. Now that I’ve gotten into baking, I’ve discovered the value of cooking with tofu.
With that said, the repeated baking of these brownies taught me another valuable lesson: all tofu is not the same.
There’s a reason why recipes ask for silky or extra firm.
It has to do with texture.
l could tell, immediately upon opening the package of tofu, that it was very different from the others I’d recently been using. It was much softer. I had to use a spoon to scoop it out.
I used a food scale to measure out the required amount and proceeded to make the brownies as instructed.
The other item I bought at the store was a bag of vegan chocolate chips, which I added to the batter before putting it in the oven. I had not done this the first time because it was not part of the original recipe. It was suggested as an alternative.
I’ve always loved chocolate but have found myself unable to eat it with my new eating lifestyle. I figured the more “chocolate,” the better.
I watched my timer carefully and poked the brownies more than a couple of times checking for done-ness. I figured out that withdrawing a toothpick that had a little bit of brownie stuck to it was okay because the pan kept cooking after I pulled it from the oven.
One final inspiration that struck me on Round 2 of brownie making was to whip up a pan of chocolate ganache, which I drizzled over the top.
You should have seen my guys’ eyes light up when I set this on the table after dinner…
The big test was the taste. I wanted to find out if they were better than the first batch.
Obviously, from looking at the picture above, you can see how moist these brownies were.
The texture was very smooth and chocolate-y.
The guys raved over them. The Mr. declared this to be the best dessert I’ve made since embarking on my baking adventure.
That’s when I started telling the guys about the tweaks I’d made…dropping the bombshell that there was tofu in the brownies.
Their jaws dropped open, and they began sputtering, “Tofu…you put tofu in these?”
And then they started laughing…hysterically.
They could not change their minds about the brownies. They could not take back their words of delight over this dessert.
The brownies did not last long because, as Chicky explained, I’d cut them so small that she had to eat two at a time.
heehee
I made a third batch the next day for my small group and returned home with two left in the pan.
I’m calling this recipe, with my modifications, the Ramped Up Deluxe Cocoa Brownies.
Yum!
AuburnChick's Adventures 
They look yummy: I’d eat two of them, too!