Whole Wheat Banana Brownies

My name is Samantha and I am addicted to chocolate. I LOVE it. Seriously maybe in a unhealthy way. If I had to chose between my family and chocolate......well I would chose my family.....I think.

Like any true chocolate lover, brownies are pretty much the tops. Warm, gooey chocolaty goodness...yum! Well I stumbled upon this Vegan Banana Brownie recipe and I have two people to thank for this. I first found it via A Kate Day. Kate and her friend have a vegan food website that they rightfully have named "Vegan Food Porn". The recipe actually comes from Sweet Potato Soul. I have made some modifications to the recipe and mine is not vegan, but just check out her page for the vegan version. :)

To be vegan or not to be vegan. This is honestly something that is on my mind. Most dairy kind of grosses me out anyway. I mean milk squeezed from a cows udder after she has been artificially inseminated and then had her calf taken from her....umm pass the almond milk please. Butter...gross. Cream...gross. You get the idea....but now cheese..oh man I LOVE it! (I know I know, it comes from milk and I'm a hypocrite!), farm fresh organic eggs...yes please! In conclusion, I would never claim to be vegan but I do think eating more vegan foods is a great conquest and I often incorporate vegan foods into my diet. However, when I have some farm fresh local eggs in my fridge, I will use them in my baking

Banana Brownies



Ingredients:

1 cup cold coconut cream*

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking powder

1 egg (or egg replacer)
1 ripe banana, mashed

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp instant espresso/coffee powder

3/4 cup sugar

1 ripe banana, sliced thinly, lengthwise

*For coconut cream, just put a couple of cans of higher quality coconut milk in the fridge. The milk will separate to a cream on the top and just spoon it out to measure your cup.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and oil (coconut oil) and flour a 9x9 or round 9-10 inch baking pan.

In a small sauce pan bring about 3 cups of water to a boil. Place coconut cream and chocolate chunks into a heat proof metal bowl, over the boiling water. Stir frequently with a spoon spatula, and after about 5 minutes, the steam will have melted the mixture. Remove from heat, stir, and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl combine whisk eggs, add the mashed banana, vanilla extract, coffee powder and sugar, mix well.

In a medium bowl mix flour, salt and baking powder.

Pour the cooled coconut chocolate fudge into the banana/wet ingredient mixture and stir. Slowly stir the flour into the wet ingredients and mix well.

Pour the batter--it should be fairly wet--into the prepared pan. Carefully set the banana strips on top and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

With a paring knife or toothpick check to make sure the brownies are done. Allow them to cool for 30-40 minutes before cutting.

Serve alone or with ice cream...

Enjoy!

Jenne' made a cooking video for these yummy brownies! She is so stinking cute!