Pin It This time of year, the cravings start for decadent desserts, too! I made these brownies recently, and they were as chocolatey and chewey as I remember "real" ones to be. Veganized!!!

Brownies with "Buttercream" Frosting

1 cup white flour
1 cup raw sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey's extra dark)
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup melted earth balance
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup water

Frosting ingredients:

1/3 cup earth balance
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
3 tablespoons vanilla soy milk


Mix dry brownie ingredients and wet separately, then combine. Will be pretty thick and gooey. Grease a pan with a l'il earth balance and bake at 350 until a fork or toothpick comes out dry from the center and the edges seem somewhat hard and crispy (and delicious!).

Meanwhile, beat all frosting ingredients except sugar, syrup and soy milk. Then slowly beat them in in that order. Experiment with maple syrup and sugar amounts because I had this hurtin-my-teeth sweet.

Take brownies out of oven. Here's where you got options. If you want a glazed look and feel -- spread icing on brownies while hot. Let cool. If you want thick frosting, leave brownies to cool overnight and frosting in fridge. The next morning, beat the thickened frosting until smooth and spread. Either way it's great! I did both because I couldn't wait.