Makoto

2 weeks ago Adam and I were sitting our pupses (this is my grandma's word for butts) on the beach in Miami. We went to Canyon Ranch Miami for our 'babymoon.' It was a wonderful balance of healthy, relaxing, informative, and fun in the sun with each other. We ate at this 'wow' restaurant that we found on yelp (4.5 stars!) and I dream of the miso sea bass that was cooked and marinated to perfection. Adam had oysters and the spicy tuna crispy rice which I'll be able to eat the next time. We shared the vegan stephen, tamago, Japanese charcoal corn and of course ended with housemade mochi. I can't wait to go back one day with Baby Glick...

Vegan brownies

Who doesn't love baking just so you can eat the dough?! It's been hard to resist the temptation to lick the spoon when baking with eggs-- a no no for pregnant women. So I decided to find egg-less or vegan recipes. I promise you will never know this recipe doesn't have dairy; it's the real deal. I've made them 2 times in a week and I want to share my tweaks with you. Originally the recipe came from the website Oh She Glows. Bravo to them for creating such deliciousness. 

• 1.5 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water, whisked
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole almonds, ground into a flour/meal & sifted (OR sub 1.5 cups almond flour)
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp Earth Balance or other non-dairy butter substitute
• 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup non-dairy chocolate, divided
• 3/4 cup organic cane sugar (I cut this by a 1/2 cup and it's still sweet enough for me!)
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp almond milk (I used almond the 1st time, flax the 2nd time-- didn't matter)
• 1 tsp vanilla 

1. Preheat oven to 350F*. Grease a square or circle pan. In a small bowl, whisk together the ground flax and water and set aside.
2. In a blender or processor, process almonds into a meal/flour. Or, use store bought almond meal/flour. In a large bowl, whisk together the two flours, cocoa, salt, soda.
3. In a medium size pot, melt the chocolate and Earth Balance. Once dissolved, add in flax egg, sugar, vanilla, and milk. This can be done in a microwave but we don't have one. Doing it on the stove may take a few minutes more but I think it's well worth it :) 
4. Pour wet mixture over dry mixture and stir well. The mixture will be dry but not to worry keep mixing! Add remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips.
5. Scoop batter into prepared pan and spread until smooth.
6. Bake for 28-30 minutes and allow brownies to cool in pan for about 1.5 hours. DO NOT REMOVE BROWNIES until completely cool or they will crack apart.

* Adam and I found out our brand new oven is 25 degrees hotter than it says it is. I highly recommend buying a $5 thermometer on amazon so you know exactly the temperature of your oven and can adjust the temp as necessary. Also after doing some testing, convection bake is the way to go. It cooks a lot more evenly. Merely suggestions...

Enjoy! And be sure to save yourself some dough like I do :-)

Find a gluten free AND vegan version here: http://ohsheglows.com/2011/10/19/vegan-brownies-two-ways/#ixzz32IOeMAv9