Ridiculously Good Stout Vegan Brownies (with no weird ingredients)
Jackie Dodd-Mallory
(Senior Editor)
Ridiculously Good Stout Vegan Brownies (with no weird ingredients), just some things you probably already have in your pantry. And these brownies are legit!
It’s not so much that flax-eggs are weird. Or guar gum. Or agar agar. It’s not the "weirdness" of the ingredients I kept seeing in vegan brownie recipes, but rather the fact that I don’t own them. And outside of an online shopping trip, I have no idea where to procure such things in my neighborhood. I’m more of a vegan food enthusiast rather than an actual vegan.
What I really needed was a brownie recipe using just what I had in my pantry, because there is a good chance you’ll also have the same things in your pantry. They also needed to be actual brownies, not shiny-top cake squares (an issue with some recipes that don’t include eggs and butter).
I have a few rules and requirements when it comes to brownies: the absolute necessity of the crunchy top, they need to be chewy, and only psychopaths put nuts in a brownie. I like a fudgy, dense, chocolatey, chewy, crispy top brownie.
I tested the recipe over and over, making minor tweaks to fix the things I didn’t love, until it came out exactly the way I like my vegan food: shockingly vegan. As in, "serve it to meat-eaters and astound them". Or "Bring them to a dinner party and people ask for the recipe because they have no idea what it does not contain."
It’s also a great recipe for those of us who always want to bake right before we realize that we are out of everything and don’t want to go to the store.
Want to check and see if your beer is vegan? Branivore can help.
Ridiculously Good Stout Vegan Brownies (with no weird ingredients)
Ingredients
- 1 cup 200g sugar
- ¼ cup 56g coconut oil (not melted)
- 2 tablespoons 30mL vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup 74g stout beer
- ½ cup 60g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ¼ cup 150g bread flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons espresso powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Add the sugar and coconut oil to a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium until well combined. Slowly add the oil and vanilla, beating on high until the mixture resembles frosting.
- Add the baking soda and vinegar, beat again until well combined.
- Stir in the beer.
- In a mixing bowl stir together the cocoa powder, flour, cornstarch, salt, and espresso powder.
- Gently stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined, mixture will be thick.
- Add in an even layer to a greased 8x8 pan, press flat.
- Bake for 22 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting into squares.
Comments
John Jones October 16, 2018 um 3:21 am
What’s the oven temperature?
Jackie October 16, 2018 um 10:06 am
350°F! 🙂
Emily October 16, 2018 um 1:53 pm
What do you know, I have 6 different flours and none of them are bread flour.
Jackie October 16, 2018 um 8:01 pm
What?! Bread flour makes the chewiest cookies and brownies 🙂
m o December 21, 2018 um 5:57 am
Any recommendations for making a gluten-free version of these?
Jackie December 21, 2018 um 9:48 am
First, make sure to use GF beer. If you can get Ghostfish, that’s my favorite.
I like Bobs Red Mill GF flour the most but I’m not sure how it will sub in this recipe, you might have to play with the ratios a bit 🙂
sean October 17, 2018 um 6:31 am
"only psychopaths put nuts in a brownie" – If I weren’t already married…
Jackie October 17, 2018 um 9:29 am
I’m flattered 😉
Inge September 4, 2021 um 12:39 pm
I think 1 1/4 cups of flour is probably 250g…
Jackie September 8, 2021 um 8:53 am
Nope. 1 cup of flour is 120g, 1.25 cups is 150g Bread flour can often be a bit heavier, but certainly not that much.
Lori Foster September 19, 2023 um 9:10 am
I have been making my way through countless brownie recipes. This is the best so far ! I did sub out maple syrup for the coconut sugar and I used white whole wheat flour in place of bread flour. Even with these changes they were super moist and very addictive. I have finally found a keeper. Thank you !