I’ve been making these Rocky Road Brownies for almost a year now and my kids have been begging me to post the recipe to the blog. I had never quite gotten around to but I can’t think of a better time to do it than during our first time participating in the Virtual Vegan Potluck! We are so excited to be here. Be sure to check out all the great recipes from our fellow bloggers by linking forwards and backwards through the posts using the buttons at the bottom of my post.
These vegan, oil-free and gluten-free Rocky Road Brownies are hands-down my kids’ most favorite dessert. Is that grammatically correct? I don’t care, that is the sentiment I am trying to convey. My kids, as most kids seem to be, are very particular about their desserts, and yet they are also fickle. What they like one month can change the very next month or heck, five minutes later. Yet these have persisted as their “favorite” dessert over everything else; even to the point where both boys told a table full of people at a recent family dinner that Mommy’s Rocky Road Brownies were their favorite dessert (without ANY solicitation from anyone).
We eat pretty cleanly by sticking to a whole foods, plant-based diet with no added oils but, gosh darn it, sometimes you just need a treat. And a treat these are, even without any added oils. Or animal products. Or gluten. Sometimes a moist, fudgy whole foods treat is just what the doctor ordered.
These are best right out of the oven after they’ve cooled for a bit (please don’t burn your tongue on a hot marshmallow) but they also fare very well after being refrigerated in an airtight container for a few days and then heated in the microwave for 10-20 seconds, or until your desired level of chocolaty meltiness.
Time Saving Tip:
These apple sauce containers that my kids snack on are exactly 1/3 cup (the amount needed for this recipe). I got tired of opening a giant bottle of organic applesauce from Costco, using it once or twice and having it spoil because I didn’t use it fast enough.
Why You Should Make These Rocky Road Brownies:
If you aren’t gluten-free, don’t let these ingredients scare you off. Using multiple flours used to frighten me before I had to stop eating wheat and gluten. Reasons to make these Rocky Road Brownies anyway:
- Teff flour has a great nutritional profile, including a healthy amount of plant protein and is minimally processed. You can find it at most health food stores and you can also order it online.
- Oat flour is a minimally processed whole grain. You can buy it at most health food stores or make your own in a high-speed blender. If you are gluten-free, be sure to use certified gluten-free oats or oat flour.
- Almond meal is minimally processed and adds in some healthy fats and binders for a great mouth feel without the calorie bomb you get from eating processed oils.
- They are delicious.
- They have melted vegan marshmallows. Need I say more?
- And if you are gluten-free, well then you are in for a treat!
Be sure not to overcook these to the point where your marshmallows burn. That is bad. Very bad. Unless you are into burnt marshmallows. Then feel free.
Description
Everything you want in Rocky Road Brownies except the dairy, oil or gluten and you won’t miss it. Muchas deliciousness!
- 2/3 cup teff flour
- 2/3 cup oat flour (use certified gluten-free if necessary)
- 1/3 cup almond meal
- 1 cup vegan sugar (try something less refined like sucanat or coconut sugar)
- ½ teaspoon xanthum gum
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup organic cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup organic unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup plant milk (I usually use almond milk)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup vegan chocolate chips split into two equal batches
- 1/3 cup sliced raw almonds
- 2/3 cup small vegan marshmallows (or about 7 large marshmallows cut into small pieces)
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together dry ingredients (teff flour through cocoa powder) until well combined and all lumps have been smoothed out.
- In a medium bowl mix together all of the wet ingredients (applesauce through vanilla extract).
- Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until combined, but do not over mix.
- Add in half of the chocolate chips (1/4 cup) and mix well.
- Pour into a non-stick 8×8 pan (I use glass) and spread evenly. If you don’t have a non-stick dish or pan you can spray a bit of non-stick spray on the pan.
- Sprinkle remainder of chocolate chips, sliced almonds and marshmallows evenly on the top. This is the best part so have fun with this!
- Bake for 55 minutes until set.
Notes
If you don’t want to mess with 3 different flours or don’t have them, you can also use a gluten-free flour blend like Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour. Simply use 1 2/3 cups of the Bob’s Red Mill Baking Flour instead of the teff, oat and almond flours and eliminate the xanthum gum since it is already included in this gf flour blend.
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