RAW VEGAN BROWNIES

INGREDIENTS (Recipe Source: MyNewRoots)

1cup Walnuts
1 1/2 cups Dates (soft dark brown ones, preferably Mejdool dates)
1/2 cup cacao
1/2 cup almonds (roughly chopped)
A pinch of salt

METHOD
1. Ground walnuts finely in a food processor or mixie.

2. Add in cocoa and salt. Pulse until well combined.

3. Add dates and combine just until you feel that it's combined enough to stick together when pressed slightly. Add more dates if required to achieve this consistency.

4.Transfer the mixture into a bowl and add the chopped almonds.

5.Mix well and put the mixture onto a brownie pan or cake tin or any mold. Press it down with the back of a spoon until levelled out. Refrigerate for 1 or 2 hours, just so that you get to cut out neat slices without crumbs. Store in an air-tight container (if you've got any left to store!)

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER (A HEALTHIER VERSION)

INGREDIENTS (adapted from Lovefoodeat)

1 cup peanuts 

3 tbsp Cocoa powder 

3-4 tbsp Olive oil/ any vegetable oil

1/3 cup Jaggery (or brown sugar)

A pinch of salt

chocolaty,yummy and HEALTHY!

METHOD

1.Dry roast peanuts until you feel the raw smell has left and peel them (Mine were already peeled ones). 

2.Add all the ingredients along with the roasted and peeled peanuts into a food processor/mixie/grinder (whatever you have at hand) and blend away. Keep on blending until you get the desired consistency.

This is how it's going to look after around 10-15 minutes of blending

Few more pulses and it's started to come together

3.Give it a good stir before you transfer into an air-tight,dry jar to store it.(Just to make sure it's grain-free unless you want it chunky)

finally,smooth and creamy!

spread it on a chappathi, roll and bite in!

NOTES:

1.You might feel that its not creamy enough after few minutes of blending and would probably be tempted to add more oil,but there's absolutely no need of that. Just keep on blending because very soon the peanuts are going to produce their own oil and the mixture will gradually start getting creamier.

2. You could replace the jaggery/brown sugar with regular white sugar.

3. This tastes good with chappathis , bread and you could even have a spoonful as a healthy snack/dessert.

CHOCO - BEETROOT BROWNIES

INGREDIENTS (Makes 16 pieces)

Beetroot-2 large
Butter-1/2 cup(1 stick)
Sugar-1 cup
Vanilla essence-2 tsp.
Eggs-2
All purpose flour-1/2 cup
Cocoa powder-1/4 cup+2 tblsp.
Instant coffee powder-1 tblsp.
Dark chocolate cut finely-1/2 cup(optional)

METHOD

1.Preheat oven to 350 F/gasmark  4.Wash, peel and chop beetroot into cubes. Steam them till they are tender when pricked with a fork.(10mins). Puree until smooth, makes about 1 cup.

2.Whisk together sugar and butter in a bowl till smooth.

3.Add vanilla essence and then whisk in eggs one at a time until well incorporated.


4.Stir in beetroot puree and mix till well blended and whole mixture takes a beautiful dark pink shade.

5.In another bowl, mix/whisk together flour,cocoa powder and instant coffee powder.

6.Fold the flour mixture into the beetroot mixture until well combined. Stir in small pieces of dark chocolate.

7.Pour into a greased 9 inch baking dish and bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

8.Cool and cut into squares. 

ADDITIONAL NOTES

1.You can replace 1/2 butter with oil i.e. use 1/4 cup butter(1/2 stick) and 1/4 cup oil.

2.Brown sugar maybe used or 1/2 of white and brown sugar.

3.4egg whites can be substituted for 2 whole eggs.

4.Walnuts can be used in place of dark choccolate. If using chocolate chips, use the small ones otherwise it will sink to the bottom and burn.

P.S.-These brownies are really moist and tastes chocolatey. There is no overpowering taste of beetroot at all,although the batter might taste so. Try it and let us know how it turns out for you.

CHOCOLATE MOLTEN LAVA CAKE

Serves-2

INGREDIENTS

Dark chocolate(atleast 70%  cocoa)-30 grams
Butter-40 grams
Egg-1 medium
Sugar-3 tblsp.
All purpose flour/Maida-3 tblsp.

METHOD

1.Preheat oven to 200 C/gas mark 6 and butter and flour a 2 small ceramic ramekins or 1 medium sized or 2 cup/muffin cases.

2.Melt dark chocolate over a double boiler and then add butter and stir till both are well combined. Put this chocolate mixture in the fridge to cool.

3.Meanwhile beat sugar and egg until creamy.then, fold in chocolate mixture and then add flour.

4.Spoon mixture into prepared ramekins/dishes and bake in a preheated oven for 8-10 minutes until just set.Unmould or invert into serving dishes and serve immediately with whipped cream or ice cream.Enjoy!!!

ADDITIONAL TIPS

1.Time and temperature is crucial for a perfect lava cake. Oven has to be preheated for a minimum of 20 minutes and also keep track of time.

2.For perfect lava, after about 6 minutes look to see if he edges of the cake look done, centre would look undone and it will be a bit wobbly.Transfer almost immediately or unmould to serving dish as it will continue to cook in the ramekins/muffin tins.If you are expecting guests, make the lava cake batter ahead of time and store it in the fridge. Then, pop it into a preheated oven 10 minutes just prior to serving.

3.For a more gooey cake (photo given below), take it out after 10 minutes or alternately dont transfer to serving dish immediately.

WHOLE WHEAT CHOCOLATE MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS (Makes 12 muffins)

Whole wheat flour-2 cups
Sugar-3/4 cup
Cocoa powder-1/3 cup
Baking powder-1 1/2 tsp.
Bakingsoda-1 tsp.
Salt-1/2 tsp.
Yogurt-1 1/2 cup
Egg-1 lightly beaten
Milk-1/4 cup
Coconut oil-1/2 cup
Vanilla essence- 1 tsp.

METHOD

1.Preheat oven to 400 F/gas mark 6. Place paper cases or grease and flour a 12 cup muffin pan.

2.In a large bowl, sieve/combine all the dry ingrdnts. i.e. the first 6 items.

3.In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingrdnts i.e. last 5 items. Whisk until the oil has blended with other ingredients.

4.Fold the wet mixture into the flour/dry mixture until well combined. Pour batter into 12 paper cases or directly to the muffin pans.

5.Bake for 20-25 minutes, until tops are a rich dark brown colour and lightly crispy. Remove and cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy sinful, delicious, moist,crumbly and last but not the least HEALTHY chocolate muffins without any guilt!!!

NOTES:

1. Instead of full fat yogurt, you can use low-fat one. Otherwise if you want a moister texture, sour cream would work very well or you can combine both yogurt and sour cream.

2. Instead of adding milk, you can add water to enhance the chocolatey flavour.

SUPER MOIST CHOCOLATE MAYONNAISE CAKE

INGREDIENTS

For the Cake:

2 Cups Flour
1 2/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1 1/3 cup water
1 cup mayonnaise

INSTRUCTIONS

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.Grease & flour bottoms of 2 pans of the same shape and size. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, soda & powder, set aside.

3.In a large bowl with mixer at high speed, beat eggs, sugar & vanilla, scraping sides of bowl occasionally, for 3 minutes or until smooth & creamy. Reduce speed to low; beat in mayonnaise till well blended. Add flour mixture in 4 additions alternately with water, beginning & ending with flour mixture.

4.Pour into prepared pans.

5.Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center.

For Chocolate Ganache:

8 oz semi-sweet or dark chocolate(I even use milk chocolate sometimes)

8 oz heavy cream

METHOD:

Combine chocolate and heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 2 minutes and stir. Heat for an additional 1-2 minutes or until chocolate has melted completely and can be whisked and incorporated into the cream. Ganache usually thicken as it cools and when it’s completely cool, it will be thick and fudgy. If there's any leftover, store it in an airtight container and use it for a batch of cookies or enjoy it with some fresh strawberrys!Yum!!!

ASSEMBLING:

Pour 1/3 of the prepared ganache over one of the cakes(or smear the ganache if you've allowed it to cool and thicken before assembling the cake). Let it sit for a minute or two,then carefully top with the other cake and spread ganache over the entire cake. Transfer to a serving dish and indulge in pure chocolate bliss!;)