Kitchen Corner

April 3, 2009

Dairy-Free Brownie

I love naughty desserts and simply feel good to eat something sweet after every dinner which I've no idea why. However, I really concern about the contents especially after I know about baking these years. I read through and experiment many healthy dessert recipes but I don't think my friends or guests would like it although it's healthy. I must admit naughty desserts always win over the healthy desserts. What about you? Well, I would normally serve my family and myself the healthy desserts whereas those naughty desserts would be give away or served during my guests visit then I can have a small bite unless my guests request for a healthy version. Well, if you're looking for a healthy version and don't mind it's not the real yummy dessert, these dairy free brownie just right for you. It contains no eggs, no butter, using maple syrup and raw sugarcane instead of conventionally refined white sugar, using more whole wheat pasty flour and dried fruits to get a guilt-free of dessert. You would find the difference of this brownie compare to those classic brownie as the ingredient used are totally different. The special ingredients here is the prune puree replaces most of the fat and add a healthy dose of fiber. However, you would still able to get the fudgy, dense a little gooey and deeply chocolate low fat brownies. Furthermore, the chocolate peanut frosting really boost up the texture which contains with no butter too! Try it and tell me what you think about it, OK!
For the Chocolate Peanut Frosting:
5 tbsp maple syrup
3 tbsp brown rice syrup
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
Dash salt
1/3 cup peanut paste (roast some peanut, take off the skin and blend until a smooth paste)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
For the Super Fudge Low Fat Brownies:
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup plain flour
1 tbsp cornflour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup light natural cane sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
3 tbsp canola oil
1 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup prune puree (Soak with some hot water for 30 minutes and blend to a puree)
2 tbsp water
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (optional)
1/3 cup walnuts, toasted, cooled and coarsely chopped (optional)
How I made it:
  1. For the frosting, combine the maple syrup and rice syrup in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring a few times. Add the vinegar and simmer 1 minutes.
  2. Whisk the cocoa powder slowly into the simmering syrup. Simmer for 2 minutes, whisking frequently until the cocoa is dissolved.
  3. Remove the saucepan from the heat, add the salt, peanut paste and vanilla extract, stirring until smooth. If you find the mixture is too thick to mix. Blend the mixture in a blender or food processor, adding some water (tablespoon at a time) and blend until you get thick and smooth consistency. If the frosting is too thin, refrigerate it until thickened.
  4. For the brownie, place the baking paper into a square baking pan. Preheat the oven to 180'C.
  5. Shift the whole wheat flour, plain flour, cornflour, cocoa powder, cane sugar, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt.
  6. Whisk oil, maple syrup, prune puree, water and vanilla in a separate bowl until no lumps of prune puree remain and the mixture is well blended. The batter will be thick.
  7. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir until smooth. Stir the chips and walnut, if using, into the batter.
  8. Spread the batter into the prepare pan evenly. Bake for 17 minute, don't over cook it! A tester inserted into the center will be coated with very moist cake. The brownies will firm as they cool.
  9. Place the pan on a rack and cool to room temperature. Frost the brownies while they are warm with chocolate peanut frosting. Enjoy a big portion of this guilt-free brownie!

Reference: More great good dairy-free desserts from Fran Costigan

All receipes are on Petitchef

7 comments:

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Grace, next time must come up with something both healthy and yummy for friends e.g...me...if not we all gonna be really chubby after chomping down all your delicious goodies! Hahah!

Snooky doodle said...

these brownies look delicious and they re healthy too I can t beleive it. I m eager to try these :)

Fran Costigan said...

Thank you so much for posting my recipe for the fat free brownies, and for the attribution. The PB frosting is a greatidea. I wonder how peanuts would be in the brownies instead of the walnuts.


Thanks.
Eat green and clean and then have some good healthy dessert
Fran Costigan

Kitchen Corner said...

Hi Honey Bee Sweets,
kekeke..sometimes it's really hard to make decision on making a healthy or delicious desserts for friends. Delicious one always won over the healthy one. The defination for healthy desserts also depends on individual. Some say 90% fat free is good enough but some say 100% fat free is best. I'm really looking for something which is totally fat free and delicious. How about you? Would you like me to serve you the healthy one or delicious one? Cheers!

Hi Vincent,
Thanks for your invitation. Will sign up the PetitChef soon. Cheers!

Hi Snooky doodles,
I hope you'll like this recipe. But don't espect it's totally the same as those classic yummy brownie ok. Please try it and tell me how you feel about it ok. Cheers!

Hi Fran Costigan,
I love your book very much! I change the Cashew Nut Frosting to Peanut Frosting as I normally store some homemade peanut paste in the fridge. That's would be nice to some chunky peanut in the brownie. Thanks for the great idea. By the way, the brownie is a bit sticky, am I having the right texture? Overall, that's really a great yummy guilt-free recipe. Cheers!

Elyse said...

You're right: the unhealthy stuff always tastes better. BUT, for myself and my boyfriend, I'm always willing to try out the healthier version. We can't always eat the unhealthy stuff. These brownies actually look delicious, so I'm excited to try the recipe!

Kitchen Corner said...

Hi Elyse,
Glad that you like to try out some healthy version of desserts. Read through this recipe ingredients you'll see the goodness. Hope you like it and tell me your experiment ok. Cheers!

Rinnchan said...

Will give it a try sooner or later. Thanx for sharing....