The day before our son was born, we made these brownies. We had no idea that the next day, our lives would change forever. I had just interviewed my pal Laura Wright on our podcast, and she told me about these fantastic brownies from her new The First Mess cookbook that were vegan, gluten-free, and seriously fudgy. Intrigued, I made them that morning for a dinner party that evening. We gathered around the table with two dear couples and ate vegetarian gyros while their two-year-old sons ran around and threw dinosaurs to each other in our living room. We laughed and drank caipirinhas and ate fudgy vegan brownies. And like Laura promised, they were very, very fudgy (the kids loved them).
The next day we woke up and over our morning coffee I glanced at my phone. It was a text from our birth mama: “Hey I’m in the hospital. They think I’m in labor.” Whhhhhhaaat?! Alex and I looked at each other. My heart went through the roof. We scrambled around the house packing a bag for the hospital (or, Alex packed and I paced in circles).
Fast forward a few days and we were back from the hospital with the best possible sweet little man in tow. Luckily, some very fudgy brownies were left over — perfect for a very tired but very happy mama & daddy.
What I love about cooking is that it’s more than just recipes. It’s LIFE. It’s these life moments we get to share with people, when people make our recipes or they make ours. It’s so rich, and so, so good. Hats off to you Laura, for this sweet recipe for a sweet time in our life. (And, your book is incredible.)
> Check out Laura’s AMAZING cookbook of incredible plant-based recipes and vibrant photos — it’s one of our favorites this year. On Amazon: The First Mess by Laura Wright.
Did you make this recipe?
If you make these fudgy vegan brownies, we’d love to hear how they turned out. Leave a comment below or share a picture on Instagram and mention @acouplecooks.
Listen
Laura Wright will appear on the podcast on March 15.
This recipe is…
Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, naturally sweet, egg-free, plant-based, dairy-free
- ¾ cup almond butter
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- ¾ cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons coconut flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup chopped chocolate from a 70% dark dairy-free chocolate bar, divided
- 3 tablespoons whole almonds, roughly chopped
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line an 8-inch square pan with a piece of parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond butter, maple syrup, applesauce, and vanilla.
- To the almond butter mixture, add the cocoa powder, coconut flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine, ensuring that there are no dry lumps of cocoa in the batter.
- In a double boiler, melt half of the chocolate chunks. Vigorously stir the melted chocolate into the brownie batter until fully incorporated.
- Scrape the brownie batter into the prepared baking pan. Smooth the batter out evenly with a spatula, pushing it into the edges and corners of the pan. (We used a 9-inch pan, so we did not smooth entirely into one side to keep the brownies on the thicker side.)
- Scatter the reserved chocolate chunks and rough-chopped nuts over the top. Slide the pan into the oven, and bake the brownies until the top is slightly firm and appears dry and lightly cracked, about 27 to 30 minutes.
- Cool the brownies completely in the pan set on a wire rack. Then, cover the brownies and place them in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. This step is crucial. The brownies will not cut neatly unless they get adequate cooling time. (We enjoyed the brownies even more a day later after refrigerating over night.)
- Right before slicing the brownies, run a chef's knife under hot water and dry it off, then slice into squares and serve.
A Couple Cooks - Recipes for Healthy & Whole Living
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