Fudgy, gooey, rich and chocolately. The ultimate chocolate brownie. And did I mention it was vegan? You’re welcome!

Brownie is one of the ultimate comfort foods, and when you get a good recipe, you’ll want to make it all the time. But to have a delicious vegan brownie is something special. When developing this recipe took me a few goes to get the gooey, fudgy texture with enough substance. But hey, I cracked it!

Ingredients:

• 340g vegan chocolate (I used a 70% dark chocolate)
• 280ml coconut oil (in solid form)
• 390g white sugar
• 3 Tbsp ground flaxseed
• 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp water (135ml)
• 3 tsp vanilla essence
• 150g all-purpose flour
• 50g cocoa powder + extra for dusting the pan
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp instant espresso powder
• 1 tsp salt

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 170°C. Grease an 11×7 inch (29×19 cm) baking tin with dairy-free spread or oil spray. Sprinkle cocoa powder into the tin and make sure the tin is coated well in cocoa powder (tap out any excess cocoa powder). This will help the brownie to cook evenly and come out of the pan once cooled.
2. Split your chocolate in half and set aside one half for later. Finely chop the other half and place into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 20-second intervals until the chocolate is just melted (a few lumps is fine). It is better to under-melt the chocolate than overheat the chocolate, so play on the safer side here! Once melted, set aside the chocolate.
3. In another large bowl, melt the coconut oil (you can microwave this or sit the bowl in a sink of hot water).
4. Add the sugar and mix well until all the sugar and oil is combined.
5. In a small bowl or a mini-food processor, combine the ground flaxseed and water until the mixture begins to thicken and appear more gel-like. Using a whisk help! Stay patient as this can take a little bit of time, but a mini-food processor also does the trick quite quickly.
6. Add the flaxseed mixture (flaxseed egg) and vanilla essence to the sugar and oil mixture and stir well to combine.
7. Sift into the wet ingredients the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Then add the instant espresso and salt. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients – don’t overmix here. If there are still a few bits of visible dry ingredients at this stage, don’t worry.
8. With the remaining chocolate, roughly chop this into chunks and add to the mixture and fold in. Use this mixing to fully incorporate the chocolate and the dry ingredients.
9. Pour the mixture into your prepared baking tin and level out the top of the mixture using a spatula (making sure that the chocolate chunks are spread as evenly as possible.
10. Pop into the middle level of your oven and bake for 1 hour – keep an eye on the sides of the brownie and if they look like they are drying out too fast, cover the top with foil.
11. The brownie will appear quite gooey still – this is fine and this is what ensures the fudgy, gooey consistency later on. Once the brownie comes out of the oven, leave to cool in the baking tin until completely cooled. If you are tempted to try it while it’s warm, be prepared for a delicious, chocolately mess.
12. Once cooled, cut into generous squares and devour on its own or pair it with your favourite coconut yogurt and fresh fruit! Enjoy!