Life is a whole lotta crazy over here.
Only a few more weeks until we leave Texas for good & head west for a few months before we venture overseas.
We don’t have our official orders yet (if you’re in the military, you know you can’t do *anything* without these), which means we don’t have our movers scheduled yet. (And we’re supposed to be moving in a little over two weeks!)
Funny side story: We have been prepping Salem for our move from Texas to Washington & then Japan by talking about it every day. A few days ago, Joseph spent a few minutes explaining that we had only three more weeks until we move. I came downstairs right after this particular conversation. Salem was jumping on our couch as she blurted out, with all the excitement only a four year old can have–“Mom, in three weeks we are gonna leave this world!!!”
These days, my house often looks like a bomb went off.
(Just in case you thought I was one of those perfect homemaking types who always keeps an immaculate house, I’m here to shoot down that misconception right here & now. I’m not June Clever by any stretch of the imagination, even in our non-transition/moving periods. I’m far too creative for that, though don’t get me wrong, I must have order admist the chaos.)
There are papers, books, & boxes & bins of things to get rid of or pack (even after all of our downsizing from last fall!).
Between homeschooling & preparing for the move, our house looks very lived in (ie. it’s a lovely mess that I do my best to wrestle with every day without losing my cool about it).
If you are a person who is in any way OCD about cleanliness or organization, you would have a panic attack if you came to my house.
Living in transition is part of the military package deal, as frequent moves make this a somewhat regular part of life. It’s inconvenient to have another life upheaval, but I suppose I can live with it since the trade off is we get to move to a sub-tropical island.
But homeschooling part two (you know how homeschooling part one ended, from this post), despite the current transition period, is going swimmingly well, as I mentioned in the last post.
Seriously.
I don’t know if I’m more mature (I’d like to flatter myself), or if it’s because the kids are older, or if it’s because I have a totally different approach, but I am genuinely excited & look forward to what each new day holds. It’s a challenging adventure, one that is keeping me on my toes.
Which means, I have been spending very, *very* little time in the kitchen.
(Thank goodness for my Blendtec which enables me to make all of these quick & easy recipes.)
The other day as I was making some vegan gluten free brownies, I realized we were out of baking powder.
“Where’s the baking powder?” I ask Joseph.
“Umm….I don’t think we have any. In fact I don’t think we’ve had any since we moved to this place five months ago.”
Really?
Has it been five months since I’ve baked or had the need to use baking powder? I can’t believe that I really had not baked anything in five months. FIVE months.
Needless to say, I improvised.
I used baking soda & vinegar, instead of baking powder, as a leavening agent.
In this instance, it totally worked.
As my days have become filled with so many other things than cooking, I have to say I’ve gotten lazy–with a capital L–in the kitchen.
This brownie recipe is a classic example of my lazy no-fuss, no-frills approach to churning out tasty delights for my family. I want it to be simple, I want it to be quick, I want it to be good.
→ For lots of simple, quick & easy meals, check out my 28 day meal plan
When I first went gluten-free over three years ago, I learned about how to bake with all sorts of gluten-free flours.
Almond flour, coconut flour, tapioca starch, bean flours. If it’s a nut, seed, or grain, chances are, it can be turned into a flour, & chances are, I’ve tried it.
About two years into my gluten-free pursuits however, I scaled things way back & have more or less stuck to my favorite homemade flour mix (a mix of brown rice, white rice & garbanzo bean flours) because I could make it myself from scratch & delivered fairly decent baked goods.
→ 10 tips for frugal vegan + gluten free baking
The one other flour I ♥ is oat flour.
I can make it in in my Blendtec from old-fashioned oatmeal in less than a minute. It’s a flour that, depending on the recipe, doesn’t have to be mixed with other flours in order to have a successful end product (as in the case with this recipe!).
It also has a lovely neutral flavor (not like many of the bean flours) & because of the higher fat content, does well in baked goods.
These vegan gluten free brownies are more cake-like than fudge-like, & are extra awesome with the addition of pecans (so don’t omit these lovely nuts, if at all possible!).
I’ve always like berries with chocolate, so I think the sliced fresh strawberries go well here (plus it’s strawberry season in these parts, & hopefully it is there too where you live). You can of course eat them plain, but I like a little contrast with my desserts, & a warm brownie topped with cool fresh fruit or ice cream is absolutely heavenly in my book.
- 2¼ c. old-fashioned rolled oats (enough to make 2 c. oat flour)
- 2 TBS. chia seeds
- ⅔ generous c. unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¾ tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 c. non-dairy milk (I used soy milk, but any non-dairy milk will do)
- ¾ tsp. vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
- ½ c. melted oil (coconut or canola)
- ½ c. pureed squash--NOT APPLESAUCE (I used baby food)
- 1½ c. sugar/evaporated cane juice (OR 2 c. coconut sugar) + 12 packets stevia OR 2 c. sugar/evaporated cane juice (no stevia)
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- ⅓-1/2 c. raw or toasted pecans (whole or chopped)
- First, you can try to make this completely oil-free, but do so at your risk (see note below). I have found that if you reduce fat too much, it will taste more like a muffin or bread, & not so much like dessert. But then again, I feel like dessert is dessert & bread is bread, so if you're going to have dessert, it should be a little decadent, don't you? Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Lightly oil or grease your baking pans to prevent sticking. You can use two 8 X 8 pans.
- Combine oats with chia seeds & make your oat flour (so you will blend your chia seeds in with your oats). I make mine using my Blendtec, but you can do it any high-powered blender like a Vita-mix, or even a food processor with the S-blade. Make sure the flour is as fine as you can get it.
- Sift the flour with cocoa powder, baking soda, & salt. Set aside.
- Whisk milk & vinegar (this will cause the milk to curdle a little--think of it like making butter milk). Combine this mixture with remaining liquids (oil & squash puree).
- In the dry ingredient bowl, make a well & pour wet ingredients. Stir enough times to incorporate all the flour (it should be fairly thick--don't add additional water or liquid). Pour batter into pan(s), smooth it out, & top with whole or chopped pecans.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Remove from oven & allow to cool for at least 10 minutes.
- Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a dollop of whipped cream, &/or sliced fresh strawberries. See below for links to recipes for vegan vanilla ice cream & coconut "whipped" cream.
Serve brownies with:
vegan vanilla ice cream {RECIPE}
OR
coconut whipped cream {RECIPE}
♥
Other bring joy gluten-free vegan brownie recipes you might want to check out:
- double chocolate peppermint brownies {RECIPE}
- black forest raspberry brownies w/ chocolate glaze {RECIPE}
Other bring joy lightened up gluten-free vegan desserts you might want to check out:
- lightened up chewy chocolate cookies {RECIPE}
- lightened up peanut butter & banana oatmeal cookies {RECIPE}
Also, for more lightened up vegan + gluten-free recipes, check out my slim + slender recipe index.
