Dairy free Double Chocolate Brownies

Chocolate brownies: so easy to love and so easy to make. They are one of the most comforting and indulgent things to bake at home. Whenever I need to bake a cake for a party or an event, brownies are my go-to recipe. Everybody loves them and you are always guaranteed a delicious result.

When making brownies, you need to look for a crispy crust and a fudgey centre. There are a lot of brownie recipes online, so I won’t claim that this is the ultimate recipe to make the”best ever” brownie. Feel free to play around with this recipe.

Personally, I love biting into a brownie and find that slight crunch of nuts, so I always add a handful of chopped pecans and walnuts. That’s optional though. Chocolate chips or fudge chunks are never a bad idea either! ;)

To make brownies you can use either cocoa powder or solid chocolate. I prefer to melt two bars of dark chocolate to get a dense and chewy brownie. I also like to add coffee to the mixture (not just because I am obsessed with it), because it melts the brown sugar creating a gooey, caramel-like texture.

These Double Chocolate Brownies are made without butter, but trust me when I say you won’t miss it here. Vita Coco Coconut Oil keeps them rich and moist. The coconut taste in the brownies is very subtle and I feel the oil makes the cake lighter.

Unrefined organic coconut oil is a great substitute for butter in baking, I have used it a lot recently, for example in this Orange & Polenta Cake, Granola Anzac Cookies, or in the Nuts, Seeds and Coconut Granola. With coconut oil you don’t have to compromise on taste and it’s perfect for people who are vegan or dairy intolerant.

Ingredients

• 200g 70% bittersweet chocolate
• 110ml organic virgin coconut oil
• 1 double espresso (60-70 ml coffee)
• 3 large eggs
• 270g brown sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 130g plain flour
• 50g pecans, chopped
• 100g white chocolate chips

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 175ºC (fan). Grease and line a non-stick traybake / brownie tin (34 x 20cm) with parchment paper.

Melt the coconut oil and the chocolate over very low heat in a small, heat-proof bowl placed over simmering water. Stir until glossy and completely melted.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl, mix together the eggs and brown sugar with an electric whisk. Add the double espresso and vanilla extract. Slowly add in the flour mixture and mix until everything is fully combined.

Fold in the white chocolate chips and pecans with a spatula.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Take the pan out on of the oven and let cool completely. Then remove the cake by lifting the edges of the parchment paper. Cut the cake into square and leave them on a wire rack to cool down completely.

Disclaimer: this recipe was created in collaboration with Vita Coco. All opinions are my own.