Valentine's Dessert #2: Fatfree and Fabulous Fudgy Brownies
You've been so virtuous and faithful. Sure, your eyes have wandered and you've had a few impure thoughts, but you made a commitment and plan to stick to it. Yet, there's only so much temptation a person can take . . . .
Well, give in to the temptation and stay true--to your healthy diet! This Valentine's Day, indulge your craving for chocolate without straying from your commitment to a low-fat, vegan way of eating. You will be amazed at how moist, rich, and delicious a low-fat brownie can be.
Fatfree and Fabulous Fudgy Brownies
1/2 tbsp. ground flax seed
1-1/2 tbsp. hot water
3/4 cup lite silken tofu (firm), crumbled
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup unbleached white flour or cake flour
1 cup unbleached cane sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional--depending on how nutty you like your brownies)
Mix the ground flax seeds with 1- 1/2 tablespoons of hot water and set aside. (Mixture will thicken slightly.)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mist an 8-inch x 8-inch x 2-inch glass baking pan with non-stick cooking spray and set it aside.
Blend the tofu, water, maple syrup, cocoa powder, flax mixture, and vanilla extract until completely smooth. (I use a hand-blender, but you can do this in a regular blender.)
Place the remaining ingredients, except the walnuts, in a medium mixing bowl and stir them together until they are well combined. Pour the blended mixture into the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl, and stir them until they are well combined. Fold in the walnuts, if using.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake on the center rack of the oven for 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Completely cool the brownies in the pan. Cut and serve.
These are fudgy, not cake-like, brownies, and they're actually better the second day...if you can make them last two days! This is really as fudgy as it gets without added oils or chocolate chips, so you can indulge your sweet tooth without worry.
The nutritional breakdown, based on 12 brownies:
With 1/4 cup walnuts: 174 Calories (kcal); 2g Total Fat; (11% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 37g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 69mg Sodium; 2 gm Fiber; 3 Weight Watchers Points
No nuts: 158 Calories (kcal); 1g Total Fat; (4% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 37g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 69mg Sodium; 2 g Fiber; 2.5 Weight Watchers Points
This recipe is an adaptation of Ultra-Fudgy Fudge Brownies. It was inspired by some evilly seductive photos posted by a gluten-free goddess, whose name I will not mention. ;-)
Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free weight watchers diet
Labels: holidays
posted by SusanV at 8:24 AM
36 Comments:
YES!!!
You found this fast, LOL! You must have really needed a chocolate fix! ;-)
OH MY -- and I even have everything on hand except the tofu and need a store run for "cheese sandwich fixins" anyway! Whoa!
He he he. [that is my evil temptress laugh]
Your brownies look fudgelicious! You are a vegan goddess!
Susan,
This looks awesome. I will bake this when my husband returns back home 2 weeks later ;)Your family is really lucky.
This looks so good. I had been good and stick to my diet but I admit that I had a few impure thoughts lately.
I am going to try this soon!
I check my special sites just before leaving for work... I think you are an hour after me here... I am glad I found this before work because I have been dreaming about it all day... and I work with really good food too, so you are special!!!
Wow, these look deadly! What's the consistency of the sugar? Can I substitute regular white sugar, if that's all I haev?
ohhhh... looks like heaven! can't wait to try these!
Kat--regular white sugar should work fine. I used Demarara (sp?) sugar, which is chunky and has a more molasses-like flavor, but I don't think it makes a big difference what kind you use.
Everyone--hope you enjoy them! And have a happy Valentine's Day!
Mmmm. Thanks for posting this. I think I'm going to work with this recipe tomorrow, as I promised my husband a special "valentine treat". I'm going to try it out with a combination of date sugar and agave nectar. I hope it turns out as delicious as yours looks!
By the way, you are an excellent writer about food. :)
Wow, I'm glad that I came across your Site. I'm not a Vegetarian yet, but I'm thinking about becoming one and then I will know where to look for recipes: Your Blog !!!
I've got an idea, I stop eating meat today and I will let everyone know how I'm doing on my Blog.
I will forward your Blog Adress to my Girlfriend, she is a Vegetarian too.
Miriam--please let me know what you do and how it works out for you.
Anon--good luck with going vegetarian. I will check your blog for your progress.
Thanks Susanv.
I can't wait to make the Brownies, but I guess I will have to wait until saturday or sunday.
these look fantastic!
Luved this site, veg does seem interesting judging by the way u have set out each recipe. I dig brownies and try out variations so yours sound tempting enough tho' Ive never used tofu, its v. expensive + hard to obtain in Mumbai, India. I used paneer, lowfat indian cottage cheese in a similar version but what does the flaxseed do in your recipes, would luv to know. The pixs are all fab.
I just made these for my roomates and proceeded to eat half the pan. Absolutely delicious, especially with the addition of marshmallows and chocolate chips.
I'll try your recipe because I've made one with tofu, but not as fudgy as your.
http://www.grignotebarbotine.fr/?p=84
I'll try to understand everything.
Merci beaucoup
so, like, only about 170 calories for 12 brownies? r u sure? even with regular sugar?
That's 174 calories for one brownie, or 1/12 of the whole pan. Of course, if you cut them into 24 very small brownies, you could eat two for the same number of calories. :-)
Wow, these are the richest fat-free brownies I ever made from scratch! Great recipe!
Hi Susan, I love all of your recipes. Is there any way I can cut down on the sugar without throwing the recipe off too much?
I think you could cut the granulated sugar by about a third and still have it come out okay. If you cut the maple syrup, you should replace it with another liquid.
I followed the recipe to a T, and still managed to fumble it up. Ive had the same problem with a few breads recently. Here's the deal. The brownies taste great, but they have a not so good consistency to them. It very gummy, or almost too moist - if thats possible. Anything you can suggest to remedy this?
Conor, you may have four with more moisture in it and need to adjust the amount of liquid you use. Next time you bake, try using little less liquid. These are pretty moist brownies anyway, so it could also be that you just don't like the texture, but with your prior baking experiences, I'm thinking it's the flour.
got some concern with my brownies after baking it. when it cools down, the center part sloped down. it looks like a crater.
are there any ways that when it cools down, it will be in equal thickness? or im having problem with my baking?
pls help me. need comments and suggestions about it.
thank you so much!
Made some of these brownies this morning. I didn't have the flax seeds, so I subbed some tahini. Delicious. I'm not vegan, and I've found lots of non-vegan brownie recipes that aren't as tasty or chewy. Good recipe.
This is the kind of thing you take to a non-vegan's house/party and don't tell anyone it's vegan. They wouldn't suspect a thing.
Hi Susan
Are these brownies really fudgy and not cakey? Most fat free brownie recipes I've made always turn out too cake like and not rich nor dense enough. How does your recipe achieve this without the addition of butter/oils,etc? Does it have something to do with the flax seeds?
Thanks!
Tiffany
COOL!! I hate nutty brownies. But is it whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour?
do I have to ground the flax seed or can I use flax seed meal?
Kelly, flax seed meal is fine. It's basically the same thing.
I made this recipe tonight -- I inadvertently skipped the first step -- ended up putting all ingredients in the blender and blending on high for 2 minutes. I used a cupcake pan (12 perfectly measured brownies) and baked for 30 minutes. The end result -- the brownies have a cake-like texture with a thin crispy crust all around. The interior is still chewy, without being wet. Delicious!
These brownies look and sound amazing!
I recently added a little bit of dairy back into my diet (was vegan for 6yrs) due to my recent discovery of being allergic to soy. However, I still love to bake vegan goods... Do you have any suggestions for replacing the tofu in this (or other) recipes while still being vegan?
Thanks for your help!!!
THE LAW-
I'm not positive, but i would thinkthat you could sub the same amount of tofu for dairy yogurt in a recipesuch as this. Possibly greek strained (etrathick)yogurt? hmmm...
I've tried to make these brownies twice now and I just can't get it right! Both times they've come up super dense and with a rubbery consistency (especially after they cool). I cannot figure out what I'm doing wrong. The first time I used whole wheat and white like it says in the recipe. The second time I used the white whole wheat and regular white and the consistency was the same both times.
But I love your sight. I've made the cinnamon swirl muffins twice now and love them. Have them for breakfast every morning!
Not only do they look fabulous, they TASTE so amazing-just like "real" fudge brownies. I used 1/2 cup agave nectar instead of raw sugar, which really worked well.
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