Vegan Brownies a la Mode

I think a few of you may remember my failed vegan brownies earlier this year. They were a mess, more like chocolate banana soup than anything else. Well, I've come back from that miserable flop as a champion of vegan brownies, no longer sheepishly slinking into excuses about how difficult it is to make them fudgy and dense, but boastfully claiming to have made top-tier brownies that would make any anti-vegan confection connosieur swoon with delight upon tasting a single morsel. Oh yes, these are very good brownies, indeed. They are even better served over this incredibly smooth and creamy coconut milk ice cream.



Recipe below!

Coconut Milk Ice Cream

Ingredients:

2 15-oz cans coconut milk (not lite)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Mix together coconut milk, sugar and vanilla extract. Cover and refrigerate overnight, then make according to your ice cream machine's instructions.

Brownies

Ingredients:

1/3 cup flour
2/3 cup water
1 pound tofu
1 cup chocolate chips
1 stick vegan butter
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 cup chopped walnuts
coarse sea salt for sprinkling

Directions:

In a blender, blend 1/3 cup flour, water, and tofu until smooth. Pour into a large pan and set aside.

In a medium pan, melt together chocolate chips and vegan butter over medium low heat, stirring almost constantly to keep the chocolate from burning. Add the sugar and vanilla extract, and stir until everything has melted together.

Meanwhile, heat the tofu mixture over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once it starts to bubble, turn the heat off and stir in the chocolate mixture.

In a large bowl, sift together cocoa powder, flour, salt and baking soda. Add the tofu and chocolate mixture to the dry ingredients and mix together. Stir in walnuts.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spread mixture onto a well greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle generously with coarse sea salt. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until a fork inserted into the middle of the pan comes out cleanly.

Serve with coconut ice cream!

Vegan Blackberry Frozen Yogurt

I've been on an ice cream kick lately. I'm sorry if this is unseasonal for you, but it's been almost uncomfortably warm here the past couple weeks. My biggest pet peeve with Gainesville is that it goes from winter to summer almost overnight (and the same with summer to winter)! Oh how I miss spring and autumn...



But the warm weather means I can finally bust out with my ice cream maker! I got this for my birthday back in October. And by "I got it", i really mean I ordered it on Amazon in October, and didn't receive it at my doorstep until Christmas, at which time it was much too cold to play with it. So I put it away in the back of the cupboard and the back of my mind and patiently awaited the glorious day in which I could make my own ice cream.



And my patience has been rewarded.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

2 cups blackberry juice*
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2/3 cup grenadine**
1 1/2 cup vanilla soy yogurt

*I squeezed fresh blackberries through a strainer to get blackberry juice. I'm not sure where you can buy it straight up like that. You can substitute cranberry or pomegranate (or any other dark fruit juice) if you don't feel like going through the hassle of squeezing blackberries. Just make sure it's 100% real juice!

**I just used simple cherry grenadine because that's what I had on hand, but you can make a fruit syrup to replace it by simmering fruit juice over a burner until it has reduced down to 2/3 cup.

Directions:

In a medium sauce pan, heat juice and sugar and whisk until sugar is dissolved. Take off heat and add lemon juice. Stir.

Pour into a bowl and add soy yogurt and grenadine. Mix well. Chill in refrigerator for about three hours. Then add to ice cream maker and let it do its thing!

Vegan Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches

Yes, you heard right. Vegan ice cream smushed between two vegan cookies. I thought I would resume my regular posting with something outrageously awesome. You're about to get even more excited, because these aren't just vanilla ice cream with chocolate chip cookie sandwiches. This is three of the best flavors of all time put together into one dessert.



Check it: Banana ice cream with peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. It's a trifecta/love triangle/orgy of wonderful flavors! Also extremely easy to make!



You don't even need an ice cream maker to make this ice cream (although it speeds the process up just a tiny bit). All you need is a blender and a freezer. I'm at a loss for what to write, because I think these speak for themselves.



Recipe below!

Ingredients:

6 very ripe bananas
1 tsp agave nectar

1/2 cup vegan butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cup flour
6 oz. chocolate chips

Directions:

If using an ice cream maker: Peel all the bananas. Place in a bowl and mash until a somewhat smooth paste is formed. Refrigerate for about an hour. Then put in ice cream maker along with agave nectar and let it do its thing. Freeze when it's done.

If not using an ice cream maker: Peel the bananas and then break into four pieces each. Freeze thoroughly. Once frozen, put in a blender with about 1/4 cup almond milk and agave nectar. Blend until smooth, then store in freezer.

To make cookies: Cream butter, peanut butter, and sugars together until smooth. Add the vanilla extract and apple cider vinegar and mix in. In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Add dry mixture to wet mixture. Stir together, then stir in chocolate chips. Drop by Tablespoon-full onto an ungreased baking sheet, then flatten out with your hand. Bake at 325 for about 11 to 12 minutes. Let cool completely.

Once the cookies are completely cool, scoop about 1/4 cup of ice cream onto the flat side of one of the cookies, then slap another one on top. Store in the freezer in an airtight container.