Ten-Minute Brownies

Allow me to start with a disclaimer. I am not a baker...

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's woman.
Bake me vegan brownies as fast as you can;
Stir it and pour it and mark it with V,
Put it in the oven for you and me.

I've learned from experience that you cannot estimate in baking. Baking is a precise art and I tend to lack the patience for it. Nevertheless, my personal goal for this quarter was to make some desserts, so here we go!

Ten-minute brownies? Sounds good to me. This recipe came from the Student's Go Vegan Cookbook. They said this takes ten minutes to prepare and about 25 minutes to bake. Good, because that's all the time I've got.

My Tuesday evenings consist of facilitating a group of queer-identified young females at Lambert House, a drop-in center for GLBTQ youth. If anybody deserves a good brownie, it's these gals. Lambert House has an awesome group of volunteers that serve a warm meal for dinner Monday through Friday. But nothing shows you care more than warm, gooey chocolate, right?

Even though I do not consider myself to be a baker (or maybe just not yet), these brownies turned out pretty decent. This is especially true when you account for the fact that I dropped them halfway through. I was pulling the pan from the oven to check on them after they had been baking for about 15 minutes. In the middle of this process, my phone rang in my pocket and startled me, causing me to knock the pan forward onto the stove. Luckily, I only lost about a quarter of the brownies to the floor and everything else just got jostled around. Those that survived went on to bake up nicely. These even turned out to be an Ash-pleaser... well, if you pick out the walnuts. :)

1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup semisweet vegan chocolate chips
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup sugar or natural sweetener
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a 6 x 9-inch baking pan and set aside.

In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the oil and chocolate chips, stirring occasionally, until melted. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, add the applesauce, sugar, and vanilla. Blend well. Stir in the chocolate mixture. Whip and blend well. Add the flour, baking powder, and walnuts, and mix just to combine. Spoon the batter into the baking pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly touched. Be careful not to overbake the brownies or they will be dry. Let cool completely before cutting into squares. Store in a covered, airtight container in the refrigerator. They'll last for about a week.

Note: if you prefer cakelike brownies, use half the amount of chocolate chips.

(minus the walnuts)