These dark, intensely chocolatey, gooey little things aren't your typical specimen—they're marbled with a swirl of pumpkin puree with a soft, melt-in-the-mouth and rich, buttery, and very sophisticated interior.
If you keep them in the fridge, they will be even fudgier.
1teaspooncoffee extract or instant coffee granules(Optional)
1½cupwhole-wheat flour
1cupcacao powder or cocoa powdernatural unsweetened
1teaspoonbaking powder
¼teaspoonsalt
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 ° F. Grease a 9 x 13 inch (22 x 32 cm) baking pan and cover it with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Combine all the ingredients for the pumpkin cream swirl until smooth and creamy. Put aside.
Add the water to the ground flax and mix. Put aside.
In a large bowl, add the sugar and melted butter and mix well. Add the pumpkin puree, applesauce, vanilla extract, coffee extract, and the flax egg, and blend with a wooden spoon.
Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt over the pumpkin mixture and blend gently with a wooden spoon.
Pour batter into pre-prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs attached, but not raw.
Take out of the oven, let cool.
Placed in an airtight container, these vegan pumpkin brownies will keep for up to two days on the counter, up to five or seven days in the refrigerator, and up to four months in the freezer.
Notes
Egg Replacement: Chia Egg (same manufacturing process), one of the store-bought mixes (like Bob's Red Mill, Orgran and Neat Egg, Ener-G Egg Replacer, for example) or aquafaba would probably work just fine.
Fat: soften the vegan butter on the counter 1 hour before, in a double-serve boiler or something DIY with the same function (cul-de-poule resting in a saucepan filled with boiling water, for example) or on low heat.
Cocoa powder: cut the bitterness if desired with carob powder.
Variations
Pumpkin Brownies with Coconut Oil – replace vegan butter with coconut oil.
Pumpkin Brownies with Chocolate Chips – add 1 cup of chocolate chips.
Pumpkin Nut Brownies – add 1 cup chopped walnuts or crushed peanuts (peanuts)
Gluten-Free (or flourless brownies – replace wheat flour with oat or almond flour (the texture will be less dense).
Low-Calorie brownies – replace the fat portion with applesauce or pumpkin.
Low-FODMAP Brownies – 1) replace coconut palm sugar with xylitol or erythritol; 2) remove the applesauce and compensate for its portion with the pumpkin puree.