Seriously Fudgy Brownies: Vegan, Gluten-Free, Soy-Free, Corn-Free, Agave-Sweetened. Oh and Broken Promises.

Aghhh.
So I have a lot of things I want to do, and I actually promised a certain somebody I would post a certain something, but I NEED to do this, now.



The following recipe has a very long but necessary introduction. Scroll down for the recipe. If you're impatient and easily bored like me. ;)

So, my mom has a wheat allergy, and you have no idea how many gluten-free brownie recipes I have seen on the Internet. It's dizzying. There are also MANY vegan brownie recipes, most of them not gluten-free. And you can bet (your bottom dollar...) that 99.9999% of those are overfilled with refined sugars.

Sometimes, however, you come upon the rare gems like the gluten free brownies at elanaspantry.com. I came across this and immediately went yesyesyesyesyesyes FINALLY.
Oh wait, she's not vegan. There are eggs in that recipe. *pouts*

But I also knew that the lovely people in the comments would no doubt be having a lively debate about ingredient substitution, so I popped down there and saw that, yes, another vegan had been wondering how to veganize this, and voila! they succeeded. OMG YES.
Oh wait, no, my dad and sister are allergic to nuts, and this has almond butter.
NO WORRIES. Peanut butter to the rescue. (And if you're allergic to peanuts, try sunflower seed butter! Never have myself, but I'm curious to see how it would turn out.)

And then I tried the recipe. I liked it. A lot. But the tester of all testers, my dad, said that they were too dry. Or something to that effect.
So my amazing mother suggested that we take a page from Isa Chandra Moskowitz' book, and try adding in some blueberries and jam. BEST. SUGGESTION. EVER.

Without further ado:

Fudgy Vegan (Gluten-Free) Brownies

• 1 16 oz jar peanut butter/almond butter/seed butter
• 3 table spoons flax seed meal/chia seed powder
• 9 table spoons and 3/4 cup water or vegan milk
  
• 1/2 cup agave
• 1 table spoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup jam (I have used blackberry and strawberry, any kind of sweet jam is fine!)

Optional Extras (but both are great if available!):
2/3 cup dark chocolate chips

2/3 cup blueberries (or any kind of berry, really)

1. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flax meal, water, agave, and vanilla, until of any egg-y consistency.
3. Scrape the peanut butter into a large mixing bowl and blend with a hand mixer until creamy.
4. Scrape the flax mixture in with the peanut butter and mix well with the hand mixer. If the mixture clumps up, you can start to add extra water/vegan milk, 1/4 cup at a time.
5. Add salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder, and blend well.
6. Fold in the jam, chocolate chips, and berries until well distributed.
7. Spread into the baking pan and bake for 30-35 minutes.
8. ENJOY (in moderation.)