Vegan Aquafaba Brownies

Hello and a belated welcome to 2017! How did you spend NYE? We simply joined thousands of strangers at the beach for an early fireworks display before crashing at home long before midnight. It was great! The only downside was dealing with an over-tired 3-year old the next day! Tired as he was, he set a new record for awesome accomplishments on the first day of the new year, and decided that he would ride his two-wheeler unassisted! High fives all round!

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I’m giving myself high fives too, as I have finally perfected a vegan brownie recipe! For weeks, I had been attempting variations of these brownies, and they were temperamental, to say the least! My first few efforts were awful, and I felt bad giving them away to friends. Originally, I thought they would work simply by subbing in liquid aquafaba for eggs. But it wasn’t until I whipped the aquafaba into a meringue that they became something worth celebrating.

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Along the way, other friendly aquafaba fans helped with hints and tips, even helping to test the recipe once I’d found a formula that worked. Here is the final, approved version, tried and tested many times. Some like their brownies fudgy, and some like them cakey, but with these, you won’t have to choose – the edges are cakey and the centre is fudgy – perfection! Here’s to many more note-worthy recipes and personal bests shared here this year! Happy New Year!

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Vegan Aquafaba Brownies
These egg-free brownies are both cakey AND fudgy! Absolute perfection!

Makes 16

Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive or coconut oil
100g (3 ½ oz) dark (70%) chocolate, roughly chopped
¾ cup caster (super-fine) sugar
9 tablespoons (180ml/ 4.5 fl oz.) aquafaba (equiv. 3 eggs)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup plain (all-purpose) flour*
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Dutch process)
½ teaspoon instant coffee powder (optional)
¼ teaspoon baking powder
Pinch salt
1 tablespoon cacao nibs

Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius / 350 degrees F. Grease and line a 20 cm (8-inch) square cake tin with baking paper, allowing excess paper to hang over 2 sides of the pan, making the brownies easier to remove.

Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. In a medium, heat-proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, warm the olive oil and dark chocolate together over low heat, stirring until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.

Put aquafaba into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat with whisk attachment on high speed for about 3 to 5 minutes or until thick and frothy. (The mixture should be so thick that even if you hold the bowl upside down, it won’t slide. You are then ready to add the sugar.) Gradually add sugar, one tablespoon at a time, beating constantly for about 5 minutes or until a thick and glossy mixture forms. When you remove the beaters, the meringue should make stiff peaks. Beat in vanilla extract until combined.

Add flour mixture into aquafaba, and fold through gently using a large metal spoon. Add in melted chocolate and continue folding until all ingredients are combined. The texture should be glossy and smooth.

Pour into prepared tin, sprinkle with cacao nibs and bake for 18 minutes or until a crust forms on the edge, but the centre is still soft. Set aside to cool and set before removing from tin. (I suggest leaving for 24 hours or chilling before cutting).

Cut into squares with a sharp knife. Enjoy!

Notes

Gluten-free: You can sub in 1 cup of any gluten-free flour blend, buckwheat, rice flour, almond flour, hazelnut meal, or a combination thereof.

Adapted from Cobram Estate

Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #redhotcentre!

15 thoughts on “Vegan Aquafaba Brownies”

  1. Is the aquafaba supposed to turn into nothing after the flour is mixed in.. it basically went from bowl of it to a iny little puddle.. not sure what I did wrong.
    We will see how it will taste once it cools down 🙂

    1. Hi Mia, no the aquafaba should remain fluffy until the melted chocolate hits it. I’m not sure what went wrong, but hope they turn out!! Let me know…

      1. Also it is 135ml, not 180ml. I’m in the UK and use a metric scale. My brownies turned out super liquid and I had to bake them double the time. Reviewing your recipe I now understand why seeing as I used too much liquid.

  2. I have had a lot of brownies in my life but Your Brownies are DIVINE (and the best)!! I am not a vegan but this is the only recipe I will use from now on. Thank you ! Can I send a picture of the brownies that I baked ?

    I have two questions:

    how do I store these ?
    the stiff peak aquafaba lost all its volume by the time I folded all the ingredients. did I do something wrong? I did add 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar to stabilise the peaks.

    1. I forgot to mention i used regular cocoa as didn’t have dutch. could this be the reason for the loss of volume?

    2. Hi Sana, great to hear you love these brownies! It’s okay if the aquafaba loses its volume. Just as long as it’s not soup by the time you add it to the pan! One thing I do though is to let the melted chocolate cool slightly before adding. I’m sure the type of cocoa wouldn’t make any difference. Store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator once baked and cooled. I would love to see a photo of your brownies. Why don’t you go to my page (Sweet Tucker) on Facebook and share it there?

      1. thanks for replying alison ! i am not sure what exactly does soup mean here ? the batter was thick (not runny) but not much in volume.

  3. They were delicious! But mine turned to brownie soup after I baked them! I even baked for an extra 8 minutes because they didn’t seem to be setting! Well once they cooled I tried to cut them and underneath the shattered top was goo! Unbelievably delicious goo as it was, I’m trying to figure out what I did wrong but I’m not sure all of my measurements were precise!

    1. Hi Audrey, I’m so sorry your brownies didn’t set. I have made them several times, and yes they are fragile, but not gooey. Perhaps next time just increase the quantity of flour and see if that helps. Good luck!

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