The Nearly Dairy Free "Brookie"

Passing the time in quarantine! While passing along life skills to my daughters!

Brookies…. I had never heard of these... until the C2's said that these delicious little bars graced the lunch boxes of the masses at school... and they wanted them too! Ok... Spring break challenged children! Whatever I can do to pass the time and make great memories for you... I might even coin this the #parentpandemicwish The actual ability to turn tolerable moments into a day my kids describe as great! And because we baked it.... the greatness lasts for atleast a few days!#parentwin #kidwins

I did look up "brookies" and there were some great recipes but I'll let you in on a secret.... I didn't have all the ingredients for brookies, namely the cocoa powder.... game on... I can't let my kids down after all, and I enjoy a challenge. I can survive and make something awesome without it... to the pantry I go... I will say my "hording" has been the bane of my husbands existence... until I found 2 full canisters of Lysol wipes and 2 full Lysol sprays, which I got for free from Superstore and hived away for a time I would need them... AKA now!!! #winning As it pertains to this dish? I kept individual packs of organic hot chocolate mix and from my trip to Chicago... a huge tub of "not loved" white chocolate mix from Ghirardelli's ... No disrespect, the C2's don't truly see the value of branching out ....at least not just yet...it smells delicious though...

Speaking of where I got the Ghirardelli...Did I show you the pictures from my trip to Chicago? President Trump just so happened to also be there and was giving a speech... I have no comment given I am Canadian... but I picked up on a few people from the area not liking him! It was wild to say the least... so was the parking tower in the back of the first pic...

This is the furthest segway I have ever made from a recipe... back to the point... sorry!

For the dry ingredients....Brownie goes first!

My eldest C2, microwaved 1 cup of Earth Balance spread in the microwave. Now depending on your sensitivity level to dairy these could work for you still. The white chocolate powder was mostly coconut oil but stated it contained sodium casienate which is a milk derivative. Sadly it contained zero actual chocolate, but because of it... I didn't have any discomfort eatting "just one". In a separate dish she combined 1 cup of organic all purpose flour 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking powder. I also added the small single pack of organic hot chocolate and the remaining 2/3 a cup of the white chocolate powder. If you are a non pandemic baker that can go out freely... use 2/3 cup of coco powder but check it for dairy if required :)

I will confess I was sneaky for the healthy feature...! We have chocolate flavoured mix that is a full serving of veggies but tastes like chocolate. If you look up... the greens first blend is the healthy culprit your kids will never know about... I add it in everything that should taste "chocolate" why not. It provides a full serving of vegetables! #greensfirst

She added 4 eggs to the second bowl containing the melted earth balance, with a tbsp of vanilla. Mix the eggs lightly. Combine the wet and dry ingredients together but only briefly mix... brownies are a simple pastry and too much mixing makes it dense and tough. Add in 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips (in my case dairy free) and set aside.

Now for the cookie:

Dry ingredients add 1 1/2 cups of all purpose organic flour to a bowl with a 1/2 tsp of salt and 1 tsp baking powder.

In a separate bowl melt 1/2 cup of melted earth balance spread then add 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla and 1/2 cup plus 6 tbsp of coconut sugar.

Mix well with a spoon until a dense dough... add in 1 cup of mini chocolate chips and mix well. I use Enjoy Life because they are all common allergy free... including dairy.

Lightly grease a spring pan, with oil and pour in the brownie batter. The cookie mix in this recipe is dense so grab balls of dough and flatten out and place both deep in the brownie batter and on the top to create the layering effect

Cook at 350 degrees for minimum 30 minutes. The spring pan form I chose was 8 inch and created a thicker brownie... which required a longer cooking time... I hit about 40 minutes but was tooth pick testing since 30 minutes, every 5 minutes to avoid over cooking. I also covered with aluminum foil for the first 25 minutes because the cookie dough was going to cook quicker than the brownie otherwise!

They came out great! A kid favourite and a treat to pass the time, both in the cooking and the enjoying for days to come!

The recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Brownie:

Wet -

1 cup Earth Balance (or butter)

2 cups of Coconut sugar

4 eggs beaten together with 2 tsp of vanilla.

Dry-

1 pack of instant hot chocolate, 1/3 cup of Gheradelli's white chocolate powder and 1 scoop (13.58 grams) of Greens first powder.

1 cup organic all purpose flour,

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

Add in 1 cup of mini chocolate chips once the dry and wet ingredients are mixed together.

The cookie:

Wet:

1/2 cup of melted earth balance

1/32 cup of coconut sugar

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla

mix together well.

Dry:

1 2/3 cups of organic all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup mini chocolate chips once you mix with with dry.

Grease a 9 X3 or round 8 inch dish with oil or butter.

Pour in brownie mix. Ball out and flatten the cookie dough and place into the brownie both deep to the bottom and at the surface. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for a minimum of 25 minutes, then uncover and check regularly. Cook until a toothpick comes out clean! enjoy!

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