Get Down with Some Slutty Brownies

Earlier this year, A Tablespoon of Liz tackled Slutty Brownies from The Londoner. I hadn’t seen these previously, so I probably should have heeded Liz’s advice and made them asap. Finally, though, I decided to make these as a pre-Halloween treat for my friends and coworkers.

Slutty Brownies consist of three layers: chocolate chip cookies, chocolate creme cookies, and brownies. The Londoner’s original recipe uses prepackaged cookie and cake mixes. Not many pre-made mixes are available for vegans. No matter! The recipes are nearly as easy to make from scratch.

Since I was pretty confident that Liz’s recipes would turn out well, I decided to road test some others I had found searching the web.

Right off the bat, one tip I would take from The Londoner might be using “grease proof paper” or wax paper. I used cake pans for my brownies. While it wasn’t hard to get them out; it might could have been easier.

The two recipes I used specify different oven temperatures and bake times. Air on the side of caution and follow the brownie recipe; preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake between 25 and 35 minutes. (Bake time can vary depending on the pans, trays, or dishes you use; start checking at 25 mins by inserting a knife.)

For the cookie dough, I turned to Mercy for Animals. I’m a huge fan of organizations like MFA, but I’ve never tried the recipes from their starter kits. Since I leaflet for them, I figured this would be my golden opportunity.

The recipe on MFA’s ChooseVeg.com is actually courtesy of Compassionate Cooks. Woot! Woot! Colleen Patrick-Goudreau! Definitely go to the site and watch the video of Colleen with Alka Chandna of PETA. They give some really great tips!

INGREDIENTS:

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup Earth Balance*, softened (although Earth Balance is the best, you may use any other non-dairy butter/margarine)
3/4 cup granulated [white] sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
ENER-G Egg Replacer for 2 eggs
2 cups (12-ounce package) semi-sweet chocolate chips

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.
2. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large mixer bowl.
3. Add egg replacer one at a time, beating well after each addition; gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chips.
4. Pat dough into the bottom of the pan or dish.

For the center layer, you can use Oreos if you agree with PETA’s accidentally vegan list. You could also try Newman O’s as I did to mix it up or even Trader Joe’s Joe Joe’s.

Sister approved!

For the brownie mix, I found what I was looking for on All Recipes. I love to find recipes that don’t require special ingredients like Ener-G or Earth Balance. Trust me, I love my E.B. but it’s nice to know in a pinch, I can rely on the bare necessities already in my kitchen. (You’ll need the Ener-G and Earth Balance for the cookie recipe, but if you know of a really good recipe without, please let me know. Thanks!)

Below is the original recipe that makes 16 brownies worth of mix. If you want more or less, go to All Recipes to adjust the recipe to your needs.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
2. Pour in water, vegetable oil and vanilla; mix until well blended.
3. Pour over the cookie layers.
4. Bake until the top is no longer shiny and a knife inserted comes out clean.

If you end up skipping these recipes and making The Londoner’s version, please do not heed her reminder to lick the bowl. Eggs are already unhealthy enough without lapping up some salmonella.

Great thing about making vegan baked goods is that you cut out that risk. Go forth and get dirty!