Satisfy that Chocolate Craving Fast With Vegan Brownies

As a full-time freelancer, I often work weird hours. I created this recipe to eat healthier food and mostly to satisfy one of those late-evening chocolate cravings. It's similar to one of those microwave mug cake recipes, only it's made with healthy vegan ingredients. I find these brownies quite filling, so I'm not tempted to down the whole batch, and they can even serve as a decent meal replacement in a pinch.

Yes, you can enjoy dessert first!

The great thing is that you don't need a lot of ingredients, and these are things that you probably already stock up on. I play around with this basic recipe to come up with variations, and you might enjoy that too.

Ingredients

I've made this recipe several times. I've adjust ingredients to the things I had in my pantry, and if you enjoy playing around with recipes, go for it. Yes, you can play with your food too!

This is what worked well for me:

• 1 large ripe banana (You want it to ripe enough to be easy to mash and sweet.)
• 4 ounces of applesauce (I keep those 4-ounce serving containers of applesauce on hand.)
• 1/2 cup of uncooked oatmeal (I used steel-cut, but just about any oatmeal will do.)
• 1/4 cup of nut butter (I used chunky peanut butter, but go with what you like.)
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon of cinnamon
• 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa
• 1 tablespoon of oil (I like coconut oil, and olive oil also works.)
• OPTIONAL: You can add sweetener if you want, but I'm alright with these without any additional sweetener. Good choices might include 2 tablespoons of coconut sugar. You don't need much because the applesauce, cinnamon, and banana already provide a sweet taste.

Note that in the picture, I finished them off with a dollop of non-dairy topping, but of course, that's another option if you have it on hand.

Directions

Simply mash up everything together very well. Sometimes it helps to warm up the peanut or nut butter to make it softer. Put the mixture into a microwave-safe bowl. I microwaved mine on high for about five minutes, but my microwave isn't very powerful, so your mileage might vary. If you use quick-cooking oatmeal, you also might not need to microwave it as long.

Tell Me About Your Genius Vegan Cooking Hacks

Vegan cooking doesn't have to be difficult or limiting. Let me know what you've come up with in the comments. I always upvote upon and comment upon RELEVANT comments. Thanks for dropping in.

Also, check out my previous post about my love affair with nutritional yeast: https://steemit.com/vegan/@theinsideout/nutritional-yeast-i-m-in-love-with-this-important-vegan-condiment-and-supplement