Gear up for summer week on the blog! Everything this week is quick, easy, full of strong flavors, and perfect for a long, hot summer.
Every other week on Thursdays, I get together with a group of girls to play poker. We’ve been playing together for two years, and it has turned into less poker playing and more chatting and snacking. We rotate houses and play for $10 each week. It usually lasts under two hours, but we love our poker Thursdays.
I hosted last week’s game, we ended up not playing at all. After a busy day, I could have picked up something at the grocery store, but I wanted to bake something. On a weeknight, I really don’t enjoy baking something that takes a long time and makes a mess.
I went to my recipe book where I collect recipes I’ve printed over the past five years. I remembered this recipe I printed last summer as something I thought looked easy, healthy and still indulgent. Mama Pea is always to the rescue. (Pre-order her book here. I did! This is her first cookbook of all meatless family dishes. Her blog is so witty and fun, and her recipes are so creative. She transitioned her family to a meatless lifestyle and has blogged and written about it. I met her in November, and she is so kind and fun in real life too. I can’t wait for the book.)
No guilt brownies
(called Single Chin Double Chocolate Brownies by Peas and Thank You)
Ingredients
- 3/4 C whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/3 C cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 C unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 C organic sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 C chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a smaller bowl, combine applesauce, sugar and vanilla.
- Add wet to dry and mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
- Pour batter into an 8×8 pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until brownies are set and edges are coming away from the pan.
- Let cool before cutting and serving.
These brownies remind me of Snack Wells that I used to eat all the time, two a day. Those have a lot of processed ingredients, these do not. Those come in a box, these come out of your oven in 20 minutes. Those dry out quickly, these stay ooey and gooey. Did you notice they’re vegan?
My poker group thought they were delish. My husband even liked them too. I was just glad to use two bowls to make a treat and not have to buy anything at the grocery. The only problem is it only makes twelve squares!
A winning weeknight treat it was.
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