The Best Vegan and Gluten-Free Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp ground flax seeds
• 5 tbsp water
• 1 c gluten-free all-purpose flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 c coconut oil
• 1 ½ c sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 100 g good quality dark chocolate
• 1 c walnuts
• 3 c dutch-process cocoa powder

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees celsius, and cover a 20x20 (cm) cake tin with parchment paper.
2. Find two baking bowls: one medium-size and a smaller one. In the small bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder and salt.
3. Mix the ground flaxseed and water in a small cup and stir well. Let the mixture thicken into a flax egg.
4. Melt the coconut oil and pour into the other bowl. Add sugar and vanilla essence and mix well. Add in the flax eggs and stir well.
5. Pour half of the dry ingredients in with the wet, and mix well before folding in the rest. If the dough is still quite dry, you may add a splash of oatmilk / almond milk. Just make sure not to add too much - this dough should have more of a paste-like consistency than brownie batter.
6. Chop the chocolate into small squares and crush the walnuts gently in your hand before folding both into the dough. Place the batter in the baking tin, and squeeze it out with a spoon if necessary. Bake in the oven 20-25 minutes.
7. Let the brownies cool properly in the tin before transferring to a cooling rack. Enjoy the brownies while warm with a spoon, or wait until cool, crispy and much chewier.