Vegan Fudgy Brownies

Vegan Fudgy Brownies - made August 11, 2022 from Everything Chocolate by America's Test Kitchen 

2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup boiling water

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped

3/4 cup (2 1/4 ounces) unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder, optional

2 1/2 cups (17 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup (3 ounces) bittersweet chocolate chips, optional

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 9 x 13-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Whish flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
3. In a large bowl, whisk boiling water, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa and espresso powder, if using, until well combined and chocolate is completely melted. Whisk in sugar, oil and vanilla. Using a rubber spatula, stir flour mixture into chocolate mixture until combined and glossy. Fold in chocolate chips.
4. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake until toothpick inserted near center of brownie emerges with a few moist crumbs, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool brownies completely before cutting and serving.

I wasn't deliberately trying to bake anything vegan; this was more because I'm back to trying to use recipes from my baking books and I'd had this one bookmarked for awhile to try. I'm not vegan nor do I do any regular vegan baking but it never hurts to have a recipe or two on hand in case I do end up having to bake something for someone with a vegan way of eating.

For this particular recipe, I left off the bittersweet chocolate chips in case they were made with dairy so I could keep this truly vegan. Instead of butter, this uses oil and the chocolate flavor comes from unsweetened chocolate and unsweetened cocoa powder. Which made this really chocolatey.

For people who like super fudgy brownies and that crackly top, this is a great brownie. I don't love crackly tops (too reminiscent of boxed brownie mixes) and I think I could've baked this a few minutes longer so it would be more firm (not dry) but overall, this is a decent brownie. Definitely full of chocolate flavor and fudgy texture. I marked it as vegan for my Soldiers Angels care packages in case there were any vegans on the receiving end so they'd know it was okay for them to eat but otherwise, I don't think you'd be able to tell this was vegan in a blind taste test. Other than being able to tell it was made with oil instead of butter, I don't think I would've known.