Hope you guys have had a good week and perhaps feel like a spot of weekend baking? If so I have a new recipe to offer up, which is super easy to make and guaranteed to brighten up your weekend. I made a tray of simple vegan brownies featuring a crackly top and a fudgy interior. I’ve resisted the temptation to add any nuts or extra chocolate to the batter as I wanted a simple, base recipe this time, but you can make them your own, of course.

Cos I’m in a bit of an indulgent mood this week, I’ve made no attempts to make these brownies healthy – so unlike me, I know! They are based on my last year’s recipe for flourless brownies, which are rather popular, but I used oil instead of nut butter and plain flour instead of almond flour. There is a bit of a debate in my house as to how sweet these guys should be. Duncan loves them as sweet as they are and says that if I am going all out I should go all out – you cannot argue with that – but…but I personally prefer them a touch (2 tbsp or so) less sweet. Sweetness is always up for a debate as it’s such an individual thing so adjust to your preference but please remember that sugar is responsible for so much more than just sweetness in baked goods, it provides moisture and structure, which are both crucial, especially in the absence of eggs.

What makes these brownies so good is the use of good old aquafaba, which I’ve been experimenting with pretty much since the inception of this blog and I’ve used it in countless recipes to great effect. For the newish or budding vegans amongst you, aquafaba is nothing to be scared of. If you can consume chickpeas (you can obtain it from other pulses too but I eat so many chickpeas that I’ve stuck with chickpea aquafaba), you are fine to consume aquafaba as it’s simply the water chickpeas have been cooked in. It is often traditionally consumed in many cuisines, where it is added to soups, stews and dips to thicken them and add a velvety texture. So don’t believe it when people tell you that it’s harmful – pulses are one of the healthiest things on the planet. While you can simply open a can or a jar of chickpeas, I find that it is so much better and cheaper to just make it yourself from dry chickpeas and if you cannot use it up straight away, you can always simply freeze it for later.

While some recipes, like this chocolate or peanut butter mousse, require aquafaba to be whipped to stiff peaks (which can take a bit of practice to get right), this recipe is way simpler and there are virtually no pastry skills required. Aquafaba simply needs to be foamy and frothy (see photos below), which happens within seconds so don’t be put off. Making brownies with aquafaba rather than flax (like this recipe) also has the advantage of there being no bits of flax getting stuck between your teeth. As you can tell, I am a big fan of this waste-free egg white replacer devised by a genius French tenor. It amuses me when people tell me ‘it’s gross’ – really? Do you realise eggs come out of a chicken’s bum?! – and I hope to encourage more and more people to use it for the sake of reducing waste, saving male baby chicks and helping our dying planet.