Gooey Chocolate Brownies

The Craving: Brownies, warm out of the oven, dripping with gooey chocolate and studded with walnut pieces
The Challenge: To make said brownies free from gluten, dairy and eggs
The Answer: Cookbook "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero

I am the type of person who thinks about food A LOT - I dream about it, day dream about it, Google it, ramble about it, stare at it, convince others to try it and devour it.

If you have been following my blog recently you will have noticed that there haven't been many recipes this year and that is because this passion dimmed a bit, what with everything happening in my life... I haven't been waking up in the middle of the night with cold sweats and wildly beating heart as inspiration suddenly engulfed me.

{I was seriously beginning to think there was something wrong with me!}

Until...

THE CRAVING hit me, BAM, right in the taste buds!

It was an ordinary day at work; I was innocently minding my own business, when suddenly this tidal wave of a craving sent my taste buds salivating, my heart racing, my palms sweating, my brain whizzing... I had to have a brownie and I had to have it NOW!

Well I couldn't have it then and there, I had to be patient and wait until the end of the day... Tick, tock, tick, tock - it seemed to be one of the longest days EVER!

TOOOCCCKKKK... home time! I jumped in my car, raced home, clambered up the stairs, bashed through the front door and pounced on the cookbook - there had to be a brownie recipe, there just had to be!

Victory... "Brooklyn Brownie Cupcakes"

I scoured the list of ingredients, yanked open the cupboards to see what I had and with cookbook in hand, raced out of the door again and hot-footed it to the shops.

Now, breathless and drooling slightly at the thought of the brownie that was within my grasp at last, I started to make the batter:

*Calming breaths everyone*

INGREDIENTS:

(Makes about 10 - 12 brownies or 15 cupcakes)

2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used Lindt Piccoli Couverture 70% dark chocolate discs)*
1/4 cup soya yoghurt (I used the chunky cherry soya yoghurt from Woolies)
1/2 cup black cherry preserve (I used Morello cherry jam)
1/2 cup soya milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons bourbon or any whiskey
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (I used Glutagon Cake Flour)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

*May contain small traces of gluten and dairy

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius
2. Spray a loaf tin or any other rectangular baking dish with spray 'n cook (unless you would like to make cupcakes, in which case, line a muffin pan with cupcake liners and spray each line with spray 'n cook)
3. At this point the recipe tells you to melt the chocolate, I didn't, I left the discs whole and put them in at the end
4. Mix the yoghurt, jam, soya milk, sugar, oil, vanilla, almond extract and whiskey in a large bowl
5. Sift in the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt
6. Mix thoroughly - I just used a spatula
7. Pour in the Lindt discs and crumble in some walnut pieces
8. Mix again, but do not over mix
9. Pour into the loaf tin
10. Bake for about 25 - 30 minutes
11. Tip out of the tin and allow to cool on a wire rack before cutting into squares

THE RESULT: My brownie craving was sated! This recipe is so delicious, exactly what I was looking for; I couldn't even tell that the brownie didn't contain eggs, dairy or gluten. It was light and fluffy and somewhat cakey, but the gooeyness from the chocolate, made my day! I have been devouring my way through these brownies with glee and have even managed to freeze some. I will most definitely make this recipe again. A huge thumbs up from me!