Mandarin & Ginger Brownies

I wanted to share this recipe with you guys since the very first day I made them, these brownies are seriously addictive: fudgey and super chocolatey but not too gooey, which is the perfect texture for a brownie, in my humble opinion. I just needed a second try to nail them (I wanted them not to be too crumbly), though the first batch disappeared in the blink of an eye!

These brownies are, like the majority of my recipes, vegan-friendly, made with wholesome, organic ingredients. Of course I want my brownies loaded with chunks and this time I opted for chopped walnuts and big chunks (always big chunks, go big or go home!) of one of my favorite dark chocolate bars, Seed and Bean's Mandarin & Ginger Extra Dark Chocolate, they kindly sent me a super nice package with goodies a few months ago and I'm slowly sharing what I cooked with their range of  insanely delicious, organic, vegan-friendly and fair-trade dark chocolates. Here's the first recipe I made for them.

The recipe was published earlier this month at Seed and Bean's website but these brownies are so yummy I couldn't resist to share them here on the blog too, so now it's available for everybody!

I highly recommed to serve these with a scoop of vanilla ice cream because dang it! it's summer, and everybody knows how good vanilla ice cream pairs with almost every baked dessert.

Btw, speaking about ice cream...stay tuned cause I'm preparing a new vanilla ice cream recipe that is to die for.

¡Receta en español aquí!

Mandarin & Ginger Brownies
(makes approx. 9 brownies)

Ingredients
1 cup wholegrain spelt flour, sifted.

½ cup pure cocoa powder.

1 tablespoon potato starch.

1 teaspoon pure vanilla powder.

½ teaspoon ground ginger.

½ teaspoon baking powder.

A small pinch of pink Himalayan salt.

¾ cup coconut sugar.

¼ cup pureed silken tofu (90 g approximately).

¼ cup unsweetened soy milk.

1/3 cup mild-tasting extra virgin olive oil.

Zest of one mandarin.

1/3 cup chopped walnuts.

1/3 cup Seed and Bean’s Mandarin & Ginger Extra Dark chocolate, chopped into chunks.

Mandarin slices, for garnish.

Optional: two drops of orange essential oil (food-grade and organic).

Directions

Preheat oven to 170 ºC (338 ºF) and line a square baking pan with parchment paper making sure there’s enough paper hanging over the sides for easier unmolding.

In a large mixing bowl sift in the spelt flour, cocoa powder, potato starch, vanilla, ginger, baking powder, and salt. Mix everything together with a wire whisk and set aside.

In a separate bowl whisk the pureed tofu with the coconut sugar, soy milk, oil, and the zest of one mandarin (organic if possible). Mix until completely combined and soft.

Pour in the wet mixture into the dry ingredients, and mix using a silicone spatula until smooth. If using, add in two drops of organic orange essential oil (make sure it’s food grade certified), and stir just a little bit. Fold in walnuts and chocolate chunks but do not overmix the batter.

Bake brownies for 28 minutes. Remove from the oven and let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let them cool completely before slicing.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature.