The Ultimate Fudgy Brownies

It’s the first day of February half term, the sun is shining (although still cold) and we need a day out. January has been so cold, wet, snowy, dark and miserable that we seem to have been stuck inside most of the time. So today its ‘Operation Get Some Fresh Air!’

I’ve got a fair few brownie recipes, but I’ve never before made one with fruit-purée replacing the egg. Surprisingly, the purée produces the richest, fudgiest brownie you could imagine. Since they’re so dense they’re fairly robust and will work perfectly on our winter picnic today – yes we tend to picnic in all temperatures! The first photo below is the brownies after some time in the fridge, the others are freshly cooled – so you can see how the texture gets denser the colder they become.

The Ultimate Fudgy Brownies (dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

makes about 12

1/2 cup sunflower oil
1-11/4 cups caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup fruit purée/sauce, I used apple and pear.
1/3 cup dairy-free dark chocolate, melted
1 tsp salt
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup chocolate chips

– Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade/Gas Mark 4
– Line a small square baking tin with foil and lightly grease.
– Whisk together the sunflower oil and sugar.
– Stir in the vanilla extract, cocoa and fruit purée
– Gently mix in the melted chocolate and salt.
– Sift in the flour and gently stir to combine.
– Stir in the chocolate chips.
– Pour into the lined baking tin and level off.
– Bake for 25 minutes.
-Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting into squares.
– Eat as they are or warm for 10 seconds in the microwave and serve with dairy-free ice cream.