I had a hankering for chocolate, but I was growing tired of my blondie recipe.  I realized that I have never made vegan brownies.  In order to fill that gap in my family’s repertoire, I scoured the internet for simple recipes that weren’t overloaded with sugar, without much luck.  So I modified this recipe, and here’s what I came up with.  I reduced the maple syrup to ¼ cup, and I increased the amount of soy milk accordingly to maintain the necessary moisture content.  In addition, I substituted unsweetened applesauce for vegetable oil.  Next time, I might try to reduce the sugar content even more.  And one of these days, I may add some nuts.  These brownies are chocolatey.  The chocolate chips give them a yummy gooeyness.  And because of the reduction in maple syrup and sugar, they are not too sugary.  They are more of a cake-like texture.  Delicious!  And they make your house smell amazingly decadent.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 cups of all purpose flour

1 cup of cocoa powder

¾ cup sugar

2 tbsps baking powder

½ tsp salt

¾ cup vegan chocolate chips

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

¼ cup maple syrup

1 and ¼ cups of unsweetened soy milk

1 tbsp vanilla

Canola oil for greasing the pan

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease lasagna-size, rectangular glass baking dish with canola oil.

Combine all dry ingredients (except for chocolate chips) in one bowl, and whisk together wet ingredients in a separate bowl.  Combine dry and wet ingredients.  Batter will look fluffy, thanks to the generous amount of baking powder.  Fold in chocolate chips with a spatula.  Pour batter into baking dish and spread evenly with spatula.  Bake for 30 minutes, checking to make sure that it’s cooked through in the middle (I just stick a knife in the center to make sure it comes out clean).  Let cool, cut into squares, and enjoy!