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

BRYANNA'S S'MORE BROWNIES
Servings: 16 (It's possible to make these GF-- see notes in recipe)
These are to die for, except you don't have to! Dark vegan brownies, baked on a graham cracker crust, with a luscious vegan marshmallow crème on top-- inspired by the old Girl Scout camp dessert.

INGREDIENTS
Graham Cracker Crust:
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (See Cooking Tips below, including ideas for GF)
1 Tbs organic unbleached sugar
3 Tbs melted vegan butter (try my homemade palm-oil-free Buttah)
Brownie layer:
3 Tbs vegan butter (try my homemade palm-oil-free Buttah) OR 3 T. oil (this works just fine!)
3 Tbs water
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup organic cocoa powder, unsweetened (I use Dutch-process-- read about cocoa powders here)
1 Tbs espresso powder, or instant coffee or coffee substitute granules
1/4 cup water
1 Tbs flax seeds
1 Tbs Ener-G or Orgran No-Egg egg replacer powder
1/2 cup regular whole wheat or unbleached flour (NOT pastry flour) (OR use a GF flour mix)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Topping:
1 cup (approximately) Suzanne's Ricemellow Creme
(UPDATE: or try the 2nd vegan meringue topping recipe here.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

To make the Graham Cracker Crust: Mix the crust ingredients and press in the bottom of a greased 8-inch square cake pan. Bake for 6-8 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool on a cake rack.

To make the Brownie Layer:
In a small saucepan, melt the vegan butter and 3 T. water gently over medium heat, OR melt it in a medium microwave-proof bowl in the microwave for 1 minute. Stir in the sugar until dissolved, then stir in the cocoa, vanilla and coffee powder. Set aside.

IF YOU USE OIL INSTEAD OF VEGAN BUTTER, skip the melting step. Just mix the oil with 3 T. HOT water and stir in the sugar, then the cocoa, etc. (I use a whisk for the cocoa).

Place the 1/4 c. water, flaxseeds and egg replacer in a blender. Blend on high for several minutes, until the mixture is "gloppy" like slightly beaten egg whites, with little brown flecks of flax skin throughout. Fold this into the cocoa mixture.

In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the cocoa mixture and stir briefly.

To bake the brownies:
Spread on the brownie batter top of the baked graham cracker crust. Bake for about 15 minutes. You may have to experiment with timing, according to your oven (try to use an oven thermometer to check the temperature, which can vary even in new ovens), and according to how fudgey you like the brownies.

Topping the Brownies:
Spread the brownies with the Ricemellow Crème while they're still hot-- and don't be tempted to spread on too much. It's very sweet and gooey and a little goes a long way! Use just enough so that the brownie layer is covered.

Place the pan 4 inches under the broiler and WATCHING CAREFULLY, broil until it bubbles up and browns. This takes very little time!  Or, use a culinary butane torch.

Cool on a rack, then cut into 16 squares. Serve at room temperature.

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 154.0 calories; 29% calories from fat; 5.2g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 107.4mg sodium; 130.6mg potassium; 26.8g carbohydrates; 1.7g fiber; 18.8g sugar; 25.1g net carbs; 1.5g protein; 3.2 points.

Cooking Tips
Instead of the Ricemellow Creme, you could  place vegan marshmallows ( this brand or this one) on top of the brownies, broil as instructed.



Happy National Brownie Day!

It was my birthday (well, the day after) and I had forgone a cake this year. We had gone for a lovely little adventure down island (Vancouver Island, that is) and stayed at a lovely B&B. After returning home, my stepson Sean arrived and I decided to make a treat for the three of us, using the Ricemellow Creme that I had purchased during our trip to Portland recently.

So this is what I made: Banana S'More Panini. I fired up the indoor grill first. I covered one slice of my husband's good white bread (use a variety of white bread with a compact crumb, like Pain de Mie or Pullman loaf [see more about this below]; but you could use a French or Italian bread-- just don't use the "Wonderbread" kind!) with a good smear of Ricemellow Creme (3 Tbs. maybe?). Then I covered that with about 1 oz. of good organic, vegan semisweet chocolate (I used some that I got from Denman Island Chocolate in bulk), which I had shaved into little pieces with a knife. Then I covered the other slice with sliced ripe, but not squishy, organic banana (about half a largish one).

I then put the sandwiches together and "buttered" them lightly with vegan marge (preferably palm oil-free)  They went immediately into the hot grill, I closed the cover, and let them cook for about 7 minutes. A little gooey goodness ran out, but not very much. (I would suggest piling the chocolate not-too-close to the bread edges.)

It was divine! Not as sweet as I'd expected, but rich-- half of one might be enough, actually!

NOTE: MORE ABOUT PAIN DE MIE OR PULLMAN LOAF

Here's the Wikipedia definition: "Pain de mie is a type of sliced, packaged white bread. "Pain" in French means "bread" or "loaf of bread" and "mie" means "crumb." In English pain de mie is most identical to pullman loaf or regular sandwich bread. This bread has sugar in it, which makes it sweeter than most French breads, and even with the sugar pain de mie is still not as sweet as most American breads. This bread usually used for making sandwiches or for toasting. It can be baked in a sealed pan, which prevents crust from forming. If not baked in a sealed pan, the crust can be cut off (as done in factories before packaging). Pain de mie is sold in rounded or rectangular shapes." It was served extensively on Pullman railroad cars, hence the name Pullman Bread or Pullman Loaf.

There is a link to one recipe in the text above, and here is one more. You can substitute soymilk for the dairy milk and Earth Balance for the butter in these recipes. Use half as much soymilk powder as milk powder called for.

Below is a picture of the sealed pan :