About four months ago I posted on Instagram that I’d perfected the Decadently Delicious Beer Brownie recipe, and my fabulous friend Gina asked/cajoled/begged me to make a vegan version. I happily agreed, thinking it’ll be soooooo easy since I’d already veganized many a recipe with great success.

So I made a couple of quick and easy substitutions and…it was a total and utter flop. A magnificent one, at that. The oil separated from the batter while cooking, so I had this mass of chocolatey stuff swimming in a puddle of oil. GAH. I should have taken a picture to show you guys—it was truly something awful to behold.

I mean, it was still tasty (after I soaked up all the oil with paper towels), but not pretty and not, by any means, a workable recipe.

Back to the drawing board. I tried again, making different substitutions, but getting the same results. I consulted with Gina to get her vegan-expert opinion on what the problem might be. But more attempts followed by more failures had me doubting that it was even possible to make brownies without eggs. Four ruined batches in, and I was contemplating giving up.

But I’m a stubborn kind of gal, and giving in that easily simply isn’t in my DNA.

Which is a really good thing for Gina because last weekend I had a total breakthrough when I decided to try a commercial egg replacer. What a difference! The oil didn’t separate and they were much closer to what I was trying to create. Other egg replacers were a total fail in this recipe: flax eggs, bananas, applesauce…nope. Somehow, the starches that comprise the commercial egg replacers made it work.

Once I had a workable egg substitute, all it took was a drastic cut to the oil, an increase of flour, and tweaking the amount and kinds of sugar. By the fourth batch, I was sooooo close, and then two batches later it was perfected.

Yes, six batches of brownies in three days. My kids would see me back in the kitchen and say, “Is that another batch of The Gina Brownies, Mom?” But I couldn’t help it—I HAD to get it right, I was so freaking close and I knew just a tweak here or there would do it. After all these months, I NEEDED to finish what I’d started. I mean, it was practically a brownie emergency, you guys. I kept imagining poor Gina, languishing away, her life bereft of good brownies…and I HAD to save her.

I doubt she’d tell you these brownies have totally saved her life—I mean, she’s a much more reasonable person than I am—but I think it’s safe to say they’ve made her life better. In which case, I think it’s perfectly legit to call these life-changing brownies.

With that in mind, I feel it’s only right and just to tell you that these life-altering, super fudgy, intensely chocolate brownies with that gorgeous light, flaky top crust seriously rivals those dangerously delectable beer brownies I mentioned above, which are (were?) my most favorite brownies ever. They’re THAT good, you guys. Like, I would hesitate to tell any non-vegans that these are vegan brownies because people (me included) often believe vegan baked goods just aren’t going to taste as good. (There’s a good reason for that, ahem.) But since I don’t believe in substandard baking, the vegan goodies I make are just as good (if not better—I’m looking at you, Chocolate Cake) than their non-vegan counterparts.

And these brownies *may* have surpassed the original. Maybe. I’ll have to make both kinds again to determine whether this is my new favorite brownie recipe. All in the name of research, of course. I’m just saying I’m willing to take one for the team.

I HIGHLY recommend freezing these. We always keep brownies and cookies in the freezer (so they won’t get stale and they tend to last longer—out of sight, out of mind really works) and then we eat them frozen…partly because they’re good that way, partly because who can wait until it thaws? (Not this girl.) And these babies are AMAZING frozen—they are still chewy and fudgy, and oh-so-delicious that way.

Super Fudgy (Vegan) Brownies

A perfectly fudgy and chewy brownie with a tender, light, flaky top crust.

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Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes minutes

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: 16 brownies

Ingredients

Volume - Weight

• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup Earth Balance (or other vegan butter)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (use half as much if table salt)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 egg replacers, commercial (ie. Ener-G, Namaste, Bob's Red Mill, etc)
• 1/2 cup vegan milk or beer
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon whole wheat flour (can substitute with all purpose)
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1/4 cup ground flax meal (optional, but adds good nutrition & flavor)
• 1/4 cup ground walnuts (optional, but adds good nutrition & flavor)
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 F /177 C. Prepare an 8 x 8 baking pan with either grease and flour or parchment.
• Melt 1 c chocolate chips and vegan butter, either in a double boiler or in the microwave for 2-2 1/2 minutes on 50% power. (If you use the microwave, open the door as soon as it's done heating. Chocolate will seize up if water gets into it...even just a little bit of condensation from sitting in a closed microwave will cause this.)
  
• Add sugar, brown sugar, salt, vanilla, egg replacers and milk. Mix well. Then add in the flour, cocoa, and flax meal. Fold in nuts and chocolate chips.
• Pour into prepared baking pan and bake at 350 F/ 177 C for 35 minutes. For the cleanest cuts, allow to cool completely (or overnight, if you can stand it) before cutting. These freeze really well and are super delicious straight out of the freezer.

Notes

To make these gluten free, simply substitute the all purpose and whole wheat flours for a one-to-one GF baking flour.