Vegan Brownies Recipe: Chocolate Goji Brownies that will Melt in your mouth

Food blogger and author of The Vegan Cookbook, Adele McConnell, proves there’s no need to sacrifice flavour to eat animal-free. She creates her stylish, mouth-watering dishes with innovative techniques and nutrient-packed ingredients, including whole grains and protein sources such as pulses, nuts, tempeh and tofu. Here she shares her melt-in-the-mouth vegan brownies recipe – we dare you to resist making this recipe again and again!

MAKES: 12 squares

PREPARATION: 5 minutes, plus 5 minutes soaking

COOKING: 45 minutes, plus cooling

Ingredients

50g/½ cup goji berries, dried dates or apricots, chopped, plus extra to decorate (optional)

1 vanilla pod/bean

120g/ 1 cup gluten-free flour blend

1 tsp sea salt

90g/ ¾ cup cocoa/ unsweetened chocolate powder or raw cacao powder

90g/ ½ cup coconut sugar or brown sugar

185ml/ ¾ cup safflower oil, sunflower oil or melted coconut oil

4 tbsp ground flaxseed

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4. Put the goji berries in a small bowl and cover with water. Leave to soak for 5 minutes, then drain in a colander. Split the vanilla pod/bean in half lengthways and scrape out the seeds. Reserve the pod/bean for another use.
Sift the flour, salt and cocoa/unsweetened chocolate powder into a food processor and add the sugar and vanilla seeds. Process on high speed for 20 seconds.
(Alternatively, put the ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir thoroughly.) Add the oil, ground flaxseed, goji berries and 2 tablespoons water, then process for 20 seconds, or stir well, until combined.
Pour the mixture into a 23 × 23cm/9 × 9in non-stick traybake pan. Scatter with extra fruit, if using, and cook for 40–45 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Leave to cool, then cut into 12 squares before serving. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

These brownies can be made quickly and easily by just whizzing them up in your blender. Enjoy these lovely vegan brownies!

Adele McConnell is the founder of the vegan food blog, vegiehead.com, and her book, The Vegan Cookbook, will publish in paperback in September on Watkins Publishing.