New "Ultimate" Brownies

I am SO very excited! I have not indulged in chewy, chocolaty brownies since my egg and milk allergies were diagnosed. My brownies were always requested at get togethers and were often worshiped as the holy grail of all that a brownie should ascribe to be; chewy edges and gooey, fudgey centers. Alas, my ultimate brownies contained no less than three eggs and an indecent stick and a half of real butter. Over and over, I have tried to replicate them and been bitterly disappointed by the dry, crumbly, cakey results. Then, a month ago, a friend dropped by a bag of goodies for me and my little family. In the bottom was a brownie mix. I grumbled under my breath a bit and chucked them up on a shelf. One night in a chocolate induced craze, I pulled out the box and read the ingredient list; completely VEGAN! But still, the instructions called for three eggs, oil and water. I had already eaten the scant quarter cup of left-over chocolate chips and needed more of a fix. I decided to give the mix a shot. I would like to say my children got a taste of the results. They did. A "taste" each...the rest blissfully ended up somewhere on my posterior. While some may consider this reckless use of a mix to be cheating, you did NOT taste these brownies! I cannot promise every mix will respond this way, but here is what I concocted.

1 Baker's Corner Fudge Brownies: Traditional Chewy (from Aldi's)

The recipe called for oil, water and eggs. I put the water, oil, and 3/4 of a cup of Nasoya Silken Tofu in my blender and blended until it was completely liquefied and frothy. Stir into the mix and follow the instructions on the box. I used an 8x8 pan.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut-butter Chip Cookies

My grandma was never satisfied to serve just ONE dessert. She would always have at least two cakes-Texas Sheet Cake and Black Walnut were her favorites, fruit salad-complete with sour grapefruit and loads of maraschino cherries, ice-cream-never peach, an entire traditional buffet stacked with shiny glass jars loaded with all sorts of candies, and usually Peanut-butter Chip Chocolate Cookies. So naturally, I had to convert this recipe!

Finding vegan peanut-butter chips has been somewhat of a challenge. I found mine in a tiny Mennonite grocery located in south central Pennsylvania. As I am located just north of Atlanta, I have found it necessary to import them. This summer's import resulted in disaster. My mother (aka "importer") seemingly forgot that peanut-butter chips melt in 100+ degree weather and sheepishly handed my a peanut log that closely resembled something one might find in the Mennonite's farmyard (as opposed to their grocery). Digging through my baking supplies in search of a bag of flour, I found one last hidden store of peanut-butter chips (necessary because I eat them by the pound) and here is my revised version of grandma's Peanut-butter Chip Chocolate Cookies.

1 cup Butter-flavored Crisco or non-dairy margarine

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 Nasoya silken tofu

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups flour

2/3 cup cocoa

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups peanut-butter chips

Cream the first four ingredients. Mix in the baking soda and salt. Add cocoa and finally, flour. Stir in peanut-butter chips. Bake at 350 for 8-10 mins. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute before removing.