I experiment a lot with recipes that do not contain butter or egg. I rarely use butter in any recipe and my son is allergic to eggs. I think completely eliminating white sugar is not an option, so this has some white sugar. It also contains an entire bar of Hershey’s baking bar unsweetened chocolate. I have experimented with whole wheat flour, but the brownie had an aftertaste. I have tried to use white flour and cocoa powder, but the brownie became more like a cake. I did a little research and based on that I found that the baking bar chocolate will create a richer and less cake-like brownie, so I opted for that instead of the cocoa powder.

This brownie will not disappoint. It is made without egg, butter or vegetable oil. Instead I incorporated olive oil, and apple sauce. It is slightly more health conscious then the traditional brownie. It has the taste and texture of a flour-less chocolate cake I am told, but there is a little flour in the batter. Also because I choose chocolate that is not contaminated by nuts these are nut-free as well. Always read the label or to be sure call the manufacturer. I hope you enjoy. Here are the directions.

Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees.

Measuring a 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour and adding a pinch of finely ground sea salt, and 1 teaspoon of baking soda and baking powder. Mix this well for roughly one minute. Ideally you should sift these, but I never have the time for that. Set this bowl aside.

Take the chocolate bar and melt according to the directions on the label. I put it in the microwave, but do it at 50% power, so it doesn’t burn. You can also heat in a pot on the stove. Once it is melted, set it aside.

In another bowl add 1/2 cup of white sugar, the bar of chocolate (warmed), 2 small containers of organic apple sauce, 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons of freshly made but cooled coffee, and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla. Mix this well. The mixture will be a little thick, so add a few drops of water.

Then you will incorporate the dry ingredients into your wet ingredients. It will still be a bit thick, so add a few more drops of water. Because the batter is thick you will have to spread it into the pan. The baking powder will create bubbles that will be trapped by the batter. The bubbles will make the dough expand. Grease and flour a pan and spread in the brownie mixture or place a piece of parchment paper in the pan. That works great! The batter will be spread about 1/2 inch thick and will not reach all around the edges of the pan. You can use a 9 by 13 inch pan and just don’t spread it all the way to the edges or a 9 by 9 pan and then the brownies will be thicker and will require more cooking time. Either way keep an eye on it for the first time you make them.

Place in the middle of the oven for roughly 18 minutes. Oven temperatures will vary. Depending upon the pan you use silver versus dark, time will vary. The true test of the brownies being done is to insert a toothpick and when it comes out clean, the brownies are done. Half way through turn the pan to evenly cook the brownies. This will yield roughly 8 medium sized brownies.

To serve these, get creative! I let the brownies cool a little, then cut a square, and drizzled with warm dark chocolate and powdered sugar as seen in the photo.  Add some vanilla ice cream too!! YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!