The most amazing brownies (by way of VegNews, by way of Sweetpea Baking Company)

Oof-dah, it's been a bit since the last post. Things got crazy with the end of the semester, holidays, snowstorms, and packing to go to Argentina* so naturally this fell by the wayside. That said, there were some delicious vegetarian delights, including a made-from-scratch gingerbread house and a birthday leek and mustard pie (for Will). Recipes of my own interpretation, though not my exclusive creation. Much like these brownies.

Recently, a lot of veg magazines and literature have been showing up at work, donated from an employee or some other source (the subscriber's address has been removed). While I'm no fan of PETA's politics or actions, I've started scooping some of the VegNews issues for the yummy-looking recipes. I'm trying to use up a lot of my perishable items before going to Argentina and one of these is the giant bag of flaxseed meal that I acquired a few months back when I was doing a lot of egg-free baking (and got sick of trying to clean my coffee grinder every time I needed a tablespoon of ground flax). Naturally, after I acquired the bag and dipped into it once, I ceased to have any time to do more baking and the bag has been sitting patiently in the garage, trying to keep from spoiling. Thus, I've been on an egg-free baking spree lately, much to the enjoyment of my brother and boyfriend and also the lament of my waistline.

So here's the latest contribution to my tush. Below is the recipe as it appears in the May/June 2009 issue of VegNews, but I made a few minor changes when I made them last night. The first is that I reduced the sugar from 2 1/2 to 2 cups (it could probably be reduced to 1 3/4, but not much more or you'll lose some texture and flavor). The second is that I used olive oil instead of canola oil (I had no canola oil on hand because I don't like it, I prefer olive oil whenever possible, but if I need something with a higher smokepoint I'll go for peanut or sunflower). The olive oil lends just a bit of a different flavor to the brownies, but not in a bad way, and not in a way that's at all distracting. That said, it could probably be at least partly replaced with some applesauce or banana, since that is A LOT of oil. My coffee was a dark roast brewed strong in a French press, but I'm sure any good coffee will do. DO NOT leave the coffee out, you will not taste any hint of coffee in the finished produce but the brownies will not taste the same without it. Ok? Good, fire up the oven!

Double-Chocolate Brownies (by Sweetpea Baking Company)

2 Cups flour
2 1/2 Cups sugar
1 Cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 Cup coffee
2 Tablespoons flaxseed meal
3/4 Cup water
1 Cup plus 2 Tablespoons canola oil
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1/4 Cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 baking dish. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt until combined.

2. Add coffee, flaxseed meal, water, oil, and vanilla, and mix well with a spatula until mixture is thick and wet.

3. Spread batter into prepared baking dish, and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Try to serve these on a plate, if you can resist gobbling them straight from the pan, as they have a tendency to crumble a bit (and you wouldn't want to lose any of that sweet chocolaty goodness now, would you?).

* New blog following that adventure here.