Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Vegan Feast Kitchen/ 23rd Century Table

This was definitely Brownie Day for me!  I posted three past brownie recipes from this blog on Facebook today (Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies, Chai-Almond Brownies with Double Ginger Gelato, and my Almost No-Fat Brownies), and a new post here on this blog with a recipe for S'more Brownies that I had previously developed for my now-defunct newsletter.  But I just had to make some, even though DH and I are on Weight Watchers again.  So, I decided to test out an idea I'd been thinking about for quite a while.  If it turned out, we'd taste-test a couple each and freeze the rest for our company who will be here over the holidays.

Those of you who read my blog may have read the entry about the black beans and brownie mix recipe that I tried from the Internet. I followed the directions and used canned black beans and their juice. The texture wasn't bad, but it tasted so "bean-y". But not "nice bean- was determined to make my own version, though, because it intrigued me to use black beans as part of the fat and instead of the eggs in a brownie. My omni friends had no idea there were beans in these brownies, and gobbled them up!  But they were quite rich for my style of cooking and I wanted to test out a fat-free version of the black bean brownies as well as for the okara brownie variation that I had also developed from that recipe.

So, below is the result of today's labors, the vegan butter replaced with applesauce to eliminate the fat (except in any nuts you care to add), and the method streamlined.  Another blogger had tried my original recipe but had forgotten to add the vegan butter-- but they still rated high with her and her tasters, so, I was confident that they would be acceptable without the fat.  But I was nervous that just leaving out the vegan butter would result in a dry brownie, so when I made them today I used a thick, smooth, unsweetened organic applesauce in place of the vegan butter, in both the black bean brownies and in the okara variation (yes, I made both!).  They both turned out to be amazingly rich-tasting and moist, without having that raw, over-gooey texture that I dislike. (And the nutrition stats are pretty good, too! In my original recipe, I cut it into 20 squares and the plain, no-options-added brownie contained 195 calories and almost 10 g fat. With the new recipe, you can cut it into 16 larger squares and each one [no nuts]contains only 159 calories and about 1.5 g fat.)

You will notice that there is only 1/2 cup flour to 1 1/4 cups cocoa powder-- this is one reason that the brownies are so chocolate-y despite containing no solid chocolate.  Also, you will notice that I bake the brownies at a low temperature (300°F) for fairly long time compared to other brownie recipes. This ensures the proper fudgy-ness without what I consider that distasteful raw texture and taste.

I'm going to use this version from now on-- who needs the fat?  A bonus-- I have goodies for my company in the freezer!

The brownies in question, my "Almost-No-Fat Brownies" (but with walnuts added), recipe below.

Yesterday afternoon Brian and I went on a trip with my son Tim, his wife and their three girls, on their little boat around Denman Island, where we live. It was a glorious day and we had a great time. Best of all, was seeing our home island from a different perspective, seeing the mountains on both sides of us,



seeing houses on Denman that you can't see from the roads, and seeing porpoises and seals right alongside the boat! I took some inari sushi made with brown rice and quinoa (an interesting if inadvertant Peruvian/Japanese fusion, I just realized-- Peru has a large Japanese population, which has influenced the cuisine), and some almost-no-fat brownies for munching.

NOTE: I forgot to bring my digital camera with me on this trip! So, the scenic pics are variously from government and local tourism sites, or taken by me or my friends Fireweed, and Debbie Knight, previously.

We embarked on our little journey at the boat launch near Boyle Point Park, which the locals call "Eagle Rock":



We headed across to Ford's Cove Marina on Hornby Island (my oldest daughter lives on Hornby with her husband and two teenagers. It's a quaint little spot with some beautiful homes and a funky, well-stocked grocery store (shown here) and art shop. (The store carries soy cheese and fresh tofu, soy ice cream and fruit sorbet, and lots of Asian condiments.)



Here's a view from a Hornby beach:



and a view of Denman from Hornby:


After getting a few necessaries, we headed back across and up the eastern side of Denman to "Tree Island" (actually "Sandy Island Provincial Marine Park", but everybody calls it "tree island"). We had porpoises swimming near the boat on the way there.


You can actually walk there at low tide, but it's a long way and people have got stuck there! we spent a couple of lazy hours on the sandy beach there, taking in the sun (there was a nice cool breeze to mitigate that), and watching the girls cavort in the water.



Then we all piled into the boat again and went back to the boat launch up the western side of Denman, enjoying the cool wind and admiring the houses along the shore, which we never see from the land. The two younger girls fell asleep on the way.



Here's the ferry dock on the west side of Denman:



and a view of Denman from the ferry dock on the Vancouver Island side at Buckley Bay:



and a Denman Island beach scene:


We drifted for a bit near Chrome Island Lighthouse



where we saw a seal feasting on the school of tiny fish that were jumping in the water all around us-- it looked and sounded as if it was raining! We docked the boat and went home feeling very relaxed.

Once home, we had a very simple supper of rosemary-roasted Yukon Gold potatoes and steamed asparagus with mushrooms in a simple sherry sauce:



Now, those brownies:



Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S ALMOST NO-FAT BROWNIES(Can be GF)
(From my second cookbook, The Almost-No-Fat HOLIDAY Cookbook.)

Nutrition facts include 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. If you need a big batch of brownies, triple the recipe and use one whole 12.3 oz. box of extra-firm (regular or lite) SILKEN tofu.

1 cup brown sugar
4 oz (1/2 c.) medium-firm tofu OR firm or extra-firm SILKEN tofu
1/2 cup unsweetened organic cocoa (I use Dutch-process-- read about cocoa powders here)
1/3 cup flour OR GF flour mix
1/4 cup water (can be part liqueur of choice, such as Kahlua)
4 tsp powdered Ener-G or Orgran No-Egg egg replacer powder
1 Tbs coffee (or coffee substitute) granules or espresso powder
2-3 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
OPTIONAL: 1/4-1/2 c. chopped nuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In the food processor mix until smooth the sugar, tofu, cocoa, water, egg replacer, coffee granules, vanilla and vinegar.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and soda. Add the cocoa mixture and mix briefly. Add nuts, if using.

Pour the mixture into a 7 x 11" or 8 x 8" cake pan lined with cooking parchment. Spread evenly. Bake 25 minutes. Cool on a rack in the pan, then cut into bars.

Servings: 12

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per 1/12th): 131.7 calories; 22% calories from fat; 3.8g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 148.4mg sodium; 159.5mg potassium; 24.4g carbohydrates; 1.6g fiber; 18.0g sugar; 22.7g net carbs; 2.5g protein; 2.6 points.


Enjoy!