Vegan slutty brownies
I have been a fan of Slutty Brownies for a long time.
For the uninitiated, these are simply the best brownies ever created in the history of the world. They are a joy which I first discovered courtesy of the wonderful Rosie and her blog The Londoner. If you haven't checked her out before I heartily suggest doing so. You will also find the original Slutty Brownies recipe over there.
The original offering is a scrumptious blend of brownie, Oreo and chocolate chip cookie. I have used them as a treat for guests and taken them to events and they have always been a hit.
So, I hear you cry, why mess with something so excellent? Well, S is vegan and so she doesn't get to enjoy the merits of these delectable treats (they have eggs in them). But there are plenty of vegan cookie and brownie recipes out there, so I figured it must be possible to adapt two to fit the purpose here.
It took a few tries. I borrowed inspiration from Deliciously Ella and a few recipe books and some combinations worked. Others did not. Vegan brownies cookies range from healthy, fruit-based options which look like the real thing, to those which try to replicate the non-vegan recipe with replacement ingredients. I discovered the former is best for the brownie part and the latter is best for cookies. Oreos, thankfully, are vegan.
So here goes...
Ingredients
For brownies
200g pitted medjool dates
175ml water
112g flour
8 tbsp cocoa powder
3 tbsp maple syrup
25g ground dark chocolate
2 tsp vanilla flavouring
A pinch (or so) of salt
For cookies
200g ground almonds
100ml maple syrup
100g dark chocolate
4 tbsp flour
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp coconut oil
You'll also need a two packs of Oreos, a baking tin, some more coconut oil, a food processor and an oven - obviously.
Method
First you grease a baking tray with some coconut oil. Then pop that to one side. Then take your dates and put them in a bowl of warm water and leave them to one side. Get your oven heating itself to 180 degrees.
The first part is the cookie base. Put all the cookie ingredients except the dark chocolate into the processor. Blend them until you have a sort of dough.
Then break up the chocolate into little chips and mix it into the cookie dough. Try to resist the temptation to just eat the cookie dough. It does taste as good as it looks.
Pack the cookie dough across the bottom of the oiled up baking tin to make your base layer.
Then grab your Oreos and create the second layer - pure Oreo cookies.
If you have got the measurements right there should be a couple left over to keep the chef well fed.
Now it is brownie time. First you will need to clean out the food processor. Drain the dates and pop them into the processor and blend them.
Then add the flour, cocoa, maple syrup, vanilla, ground chocolate and salt. Whizz it up some more to make your brownie mix.
Then spread the brownie mix across the Oreos to make your top layer.
Pop that in the oven and leave it for about 12 minutes.
Take it out and put it on the side to cool. Then pop your brownies out of the baking tin, cut them up and enjoy.
If you want the original recipe from The Londoner, it is here.