Banana Walnut Brownies

I was craving chocolate. I never crave chocolate (weird, right?). So I decided to attempt a vegan brownie with no added oil or “butter” or any extra fats. But I did want to retain as much moisture as possible because, really, nothing’s worse than a chalky, dry brownie.

For a first attempt, I must say I’m pretty pleased ☺ Definitely not dry, but I might still try to moisten it up some more next time. Never the less—and my husband agrees—this recipe is post worthy. So . . . without further adieu, here ya go!

Banana Walnut Brownies

Dry:
½ c whole-wheat flour
¾ c oat flour
¼ c sugar
½ c cocoa powder
2 T cornstarch
¼ t baking soda
½ t kosher salt

Wet:
1 medium banana, puréed
2 t vanilla
2 T maple syrup
½ c sugar
1 flax egg (1 T ground flaxseed + 3 T warm water)*

¾ c walnuts, chopped
¼ c mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

In a small bowl, make flax egg and set aside.

In a separate large bowl, combine all dry ingredients.

In another bowl, combine all wet ingredients, including the flax egg. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients until thoroughly mixed. The batter will be very thick and pasty. Add in the chopped walnuts (I kneaded them in with my hands).

Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Press batter firmly into the pan until evenly distributed. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and gently press them into the batter.

Bake for 30 minutes. When done, lift the parchment paper containing the brownies out of the pan and onto a cooling rack. After 5-10 minutes enjoy them warm!!

*Allow flax egg to gel (~10min.) before adding to recipe.

Inspired by Wonderslim Wondercocoa’s Wonder Brownies

© Gina Chythlook

Banana Walnut Brownies

Let there be CAKE!!

In honor of my husband coming home yesterday (he works 3 weeks on/3 weeks off), I was inspired to make a cake 🙂 After realizing I didn’t have all the ingredients for any of the recipes I had on hand–not that I can ever truuuly follow a recipe to begin with ;)–I decided to get a bit more creative and attempt my own! I had, and still have, an abundance of canned pineapple, so I decided to go with that. Walnuts sounded like a perfect, crunchy add-in, but my cupboards only had cashews, sunflower seeds, and blue corn tortilla chips to offer. Not really feelin’ the tortilla chips, I decided to give the sunflower seeds a whirl. The result = a sweet, moist, delicious dessert with just the right hint of crunch 🙂 Oh, and my non-veg, non-vegan husband liked it, too! I believe his initial response was, “Mmmmm yummy . . . is this vegan??” Success? I think so. 🙂

Pineapple Sunflower Spice Cake

Flax Egg:
2 T ground flaxseed
6 T warm water

Dry:
¾ c whole-wheat flour*
¾ c oat flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
½ t ground nutmeg
1 t ground cinnamon
¼ t kosher salt

1 stick vegan butter, softened (Earth Balance is the brand I used)
¾ c brown sugar, lightly packed
2/3 c almond milk, unsweetened vanilla (Silk brand)
2 t apple cider vinegar
½ c crushed pineapple
¼ c sunflower seeds, unsalted

Glaze:
4 T agave nectar
5 T pineapple juice
½ c crushed pineapple

-Preheat oven to 350˚F.
-Prepare flax egg, and set aside (~10min.).
-Combine dry ingredients.
-Combine almond milk and apple cider vinegar.
-Cream together vegan butter and brown sugar in mixing bowl. Add flax egg until combined.
-Add dry ingredients alternatively with the almond milk/vinegar into the mixing bowl.
-Add pineapple, then sunflower seeds until just combined.
-In a greased 8-inch, round cake pan, add the cake batter.

Bake for 50 minutes.
When done, allow cake to sit in pan for 5 minutes. Then, remove from pan onto a wire rack to begin cooling.

Prepare the glaze: Combine the agave with the pineapple juice and heat to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and continue boiling until reduced to a syrup consistency.

Poke cake across its entire surface with a fork (about 12-15 times). Spread crushed pineapple across the top, then drizzle the glaze on top of that and voila!

*If you have whole-wheat pastry flour, go ahead and use that! Normally, I have that on hand, but didn’t today (still turned out amazing, though!).

Inspired by: “Date and Walnut Spice Cake”-The Best-Ever Vegetarian Cookbook

© Gina Chythlook

Pineapple Sunflower Spice Cake