brownies

5 from 7 votes

Chocolate Orange Brownies (Vegan)

Enjoy decadent fudgy brownies with an orange flavor and a hidden dose of spinach that will fool kids and vegetable lovers alike! These vegan chocolate brownies will delight all and should be enjoyed without hesitation.

Course Dessert

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 12

Author fiona@saluk.net

Ingredients

1/2 cup aquafaba
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown or coconut sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder (dutch process is best)
1 cup raw spinach
2 tbsp non-dairy milk
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
2 tsp instant coffee
180 grams dark chocolate
3/4 tsp orange zest
2 tsp fresh orange juice

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and line a 9x9 pan with parchment paper
Combine aquafaba and sugars in blender or food processor and mix for about 60 seconds until slightly fluffy and frothy.
Add raw spinach, vanilla, orange juice, milk and zest and mix again to combine, about 30 seconds. Spinach should be completely or mostly blended so that there aren't big leaves.
In a medium sized bowl melt chocolate either using a double boiler or in the microwave (if using microwave be sure to stir every 30 seconds and remove as soon as just about melted to avoid burning the chocolate). Add instant coffee and stir into mixture, it'll start to dissolve a bit. Let cool for just a few minutes.
Pour the wet spinach mixture into the chocolate and stir to combine. Chocolate may begin to seize if the chocolate is too hot. Continue to mix and if needed, put on double boiler again to melt again slightly, some chocolate chunks is fine.
In a separate bowl sift flours, cocoa powder, and salt together and mix once or twice with a wooden spoon gently to combine.
Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and fold batter until incorporated - be careful not to overmix as this can make the brownies very chewy.
Pour batter into the parchment paper lined pan and bake in the oven for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 15 minutes before slicing to serve.

Dessert in my handbag – a mature decision

A chance to dive into someone’s handbag is like a chance to gaze into their soul. Okay maybe that’s a bit extreme but you can really tell a lot about someone by what they feel the need to carry on them at all times. Magazines are still doing those ‘what’s in this celeb’s bag!’ pieces so surely it’s a popular enough topic.

I actually tend not to carry a bag if I am wearing a coat with pockets purely because I can be quite careless and forgetful. Like a modern day hansel and gretel I often leave pieces of me strewn around town in various places and have to retrace my steps in attempt to find everything. Except my version isn’t intentional as I have no crazy witches house to escape so I don’t really have an excuse for my behavior.

Anyone who knows me well knows that the one thing I do always have on me whether or not I’m carrying a bag is my favorite cookie! Let that say what it will about my priorities but I think it’s important to always have an emergency cookie, you never know when you or someone you’re with just might need it! Oh, you require something USEFUL like a hairbrush, hand cream or make-up for a quick touch up? Sorry I can’t help you. Need an emergency dessert or a tea bag? I’m definitely your girl. (FYI my birthday is coming up so if you’re at a loss for what to get me…a top of up my fave cookies will do just fine!)

Brownies are my number one

Why am I talking about this? Who knows. What I wanted to talk about was brownies and how they’re my favorite sweet treat. I guess the link is that those cookies are my more frequently enjoyed treat but brownies are my number one choice for dessert.

That being said I have been LESS than impressed with many brownies that I’ve encountered in my days and I won’t settle for any old brownie. I like a chocolatey, fudgy, super moist brownie – not a fan of the dry cakey ones, they just seem like sad, frosting-less chocolate cake to me. My standards for dessert are high and even though I’m a dessert lover I’ll only have it if it’s going to be amazing!

Chocolate and Orange – a winning combo

Chocolate is combined with many different flavors successfully but I think my number one choice is definitely chocolate orange. Who doesn’t love those Terry’s chocolate oranges!

In my day-to-day attempt to be less wasteful and more of a conscious consumer in general, I try to find ways to use the whole fruit or the whole vegetable. Hence the candied orange peel I made as little decor pieces for these guys. The chocolate orange brownie recipe uses some orange zest and juice but I didn’t want to just toss the peel in the bin so I opted for the slightly time consuming task of candying the peel – I did not regret this.

I’m not a fan of orange flavored candy but these candied orange peels are seriously like a sugar-y orange gummy candy and I highly recommend you try making them at some point if not now. You can dip them in chocolate for an even more decadent treat but just tossing them in sugar is a proven way to make them delicious (prob not healthy though if I’m being honest which I always try to).

And they’re vegan too?

You read that right folks. These fudgy, decadent orange chocolate brownies are indeed 100% vegan. No dairy, no animal products, none of those shenanigans here. I used one of my fave ingredients – aquafaba – in place of eggs and they didn’t need any butter because I’m just that good. This recipe wasn’t finalized on the first attempt but I promise you this batch was definitley the winner by a landslide and you’d never guess they were vegan or that they have a handful of SPINACH thrown in there!

Definitely patting myself on the back for creating this recipe because as a brownie lover I’ve had many in my day but usually the reason the best ones are so good is because they have like 2 lbs of butter in there. To make a vegan version this moist and delicious is quite the feat. They do have a decent amount of melted chocolate in them which isn’t exactly healthy…but I’m all about supporting those studies that say dark chocolate is good for you because of antioxidants, etc etc.

Make these ASAP and I hope you enjoy them as much as my taste testers and I did! Don’t forget to share them with someone who is skeptical of vegan baking because these just might change their opinion for good!