Camille and Anne used to go to church together. As children there were two things that we loved most about church: choir and coffee hour. Choir meant we got to sit in the choir loft, sing, and giggle together as we would dare each other to drop things on people below us. Coffee hour was a chance to take lots of delicious food and then hide in the trees hoping our parents wouldn’t find us and we could play together all day. Our favorite treats were lemon poppy seed cake and brownies. We would often take the brownies, ball them up in our hands and smoosh them until they turned into little fudgy morsels of joy and then eat them. This memory inspired Anne to create a gluten-free vegan version so that we could both enjoy them as adults. Camille thinks these taste like food made for angels.
Happy New Year, y’all!
Serves: 6-8
Time: 45 min (15 min active)
Ingredients
2 tbsp ground flax
1 cup almond milk
3/4 cup gluten-free oats
2/3 cup almond flour
2/3 cup raw cacao powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla powder or vanilla extract
1/4-1/2 tsp fine salt
1/2 cup neutral oil
2/3 cup coconut sugar
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup chocolate chips, we recommend Hu Gems
1/2 tsp flaky salt
Pre-heat oven to 350 F and oil a 9 x 9 baking dish. Mix ground flax and almond milk in a small bowl and set aside.
In a blender or food processor, pulse oats until floury. Add the oat flour to a large mixing bowl with almond flour, raw cacao powder, baking powder, and fine salt. The reason the salt is a range is that different salts have different levels of saltiness. We recommend 1/2 tsp if you are using kosher salt and 1/4 tsp if you are using table salt. If you aren’t sure, start with less salt. Once the batter comes together you can taste and salt to taste. Stir to combine. If you are using vanilla powder, add it to the dry ingredients
In a smaller bowl, mix the oil, coconut sugar, vanilla (if using extract), apple cider vinegar, and the flax/almond mixture. Stir to incorporate.
Make a well in the dry ingredients and add wet mixture, stirring until fully mixed. You don’t have to worry about over mixing because there is no gluten. Fold in the chocolate chips and pour into oiled baking dish. Taste the batter and feel free to add more salt if it needs it. You will be adding flaky salt on top, so be careful not to over-salt. Top with flaky salt and bake for 30 minutes or until knife comes out clean.
Allow to fully cool (this is part of the cooking process). Slice and enjoy!