Heavenly Chocolate Brownies

a vegan cake (or whatever category brownies fall under)

Today, I had the strongest urge to bake brownies but the last time I made them, I was still lacto-ovo.  Now that I'm vegan, though, I didn't know if flax or banana would work as an egg substitute.  As it turned out, they're absolutely perfect.  I made mine using a banana.  Flax, I read upon doing research, is a better substitute but I don't have any at the moment so I settled for the fruit-based alternative.

If you follow the recipe strictly, you will come up with half a party platter.


You will need:

- 2 cups of all-purpose flour 

- 1¼ cup of agave nectar or honey if you're okay with it (Adjust sweetness by adding or subtracting a tablespoon or two) 

- 1 unit of banana-based egg alternative OR 2 units of flax seed-based egg alternative 

- 200 grams of dark chocolate, melted (Melt using the double boil method or microwave.) 

- 1 cup of liquefied virgin coconut oil 

- 1 cup of water 

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract 

- 1 teaspoon of baking powder 

- 1 teaspoon of salt

Let's get baking:

1.  Preheat your oven to 350°F or 175°C. 

2.  In a mixing bowl, mix your agave nectar, egg alternative, water, vanilla extract, baking powder and salt. 

3.  Thoroughly mix your coconut oil and your melted chocolate.  You may use a pan over low heat or a double boiler to do this. 

4.  Pour the chocolate and oil mixture into the mixing bowl.  Throw in the flour and mix well for about a minute, preferably using a mixer but a whisk will do. 

5.  Lightly grease a baking tray (23cm x 34cm or 9" x 13") and line the surface and sides with baking paper. 

6.  Pour your brownie mix onto the tray and bake for 30-35 minutes. 

7.  Check if it's done using a cocktail stick or toothpick (i.e. it should come out clean when poked).  If done, take it out of the oven and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before cutting to squares. 

8.  Serve heaven.

Oat Flour Crepe

a vegan quick bread

I had some mango chutney (achār or whatever) left from last night but I didn't have any more chapati to eat it with and I didn't want to settle for ordinary bread.  I was basically looking for an excuse to play with the stove so I decided to make some crepes.  The bummer was I didn't have flour anymore so I improvised.  Thus, I came up with something vegan, gluten-free and awesome!

If you follow the recipe strictly, you'll come up with:

- 2 medium sized crepes


You will need:

- 150 grams (1 cup) of oat flour * You can make it yourself by grinding oatmeal in a coffee grinder until it becomes completely powdered. 

- 250 millilitres (1 cup) of soy/almond/coconut or any non-dairy milk * In my case, I used organic soy milk. 

- 1 tablespoon of olive oil * If you use coconut milk, omit this ingredient. 

- 1 tablespoon of agave nectar or maple syrup (or honey, if you're okay with it) 

- 1 unit equivalent of banana-based egg substitute * Click on the link to know how to make it.

- ¼ teaspoon of salt 

- 1 tablespoon of baking powder

To make pancakes:

1.  Mix all the wet ingredients in a bowl, including the banana egg substitute. 

2.  Add in all the dry ingredients to the mixing wet ingredients in this order:  Flour, salt, and baking powder 

3.  Make sure your batter is a little bit runny.  If, by your good judgement, it's not runny enough, mix in a bit more vegetable milk.  Make sure it doesn't become too fluid because then it will fall apart when you flip it since it's completely gluten-free. 

4.  Cook over low heat with a non-stick or greased pan.  Spread it fairly thin all over the surface.  A minute on each side will likely do.  Make sure you flip it carefully since it won't hold as well as normal gluten-filled crepes would.

Vegan Cinnamon Pancakes

a vegan quick bread, obviously

I got hungry and I had all the ingredients to make pancakes... except eggs!  "Darn it," I said to myself.  "But wait, this is a very good opportunity to come up with vegan pancakes."

Don't be fooled.  That's not butter melting on top of the pancakes.  That's actually dairy-free margarine!

If you follow the recipe strictly, you'll come up with:

- 3 regular sized pancakes, or
- 1 freakishly gigantic pancake

NOTE:  The photo above has 6 pancakes.  I simply doubled all the ingredients!  HAH!


You will need:

- 150 grams (1 cup) of plain flour 

- 180 millilitres (¾ cup) of soy milk or coconut milk, coconut in my case 

- 2 tablespoons of melted dairy-free margarine 

- 1 tablespoon of brown sugar (or 2, depending on whether you like your pancakes sweet) 

- 1 egg's equivalent of vegan egg substitute: either banana-based or flax seed based  ←<<CLICK ON THOSE LINKS!!!  (In this case, half and half of puréed banana and flax seed is best because sweet pancakes are awesome.) 

- ¼ teaspoon of salt 

- 1½ teaspoon of baking powder 

- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder

NOTE:  If you don't like cinnamon, you can omit it.  However, in that case, you can no longer call them "Cinnamon Pancakes."


Let's flip some:

1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. 

2. Mix the egg substitute, the margarine and the soy/coconut milk in a second bowl. 

3. Use a mixer if you have one and let it run on the bowl with the liquids.  If you don't have a mixer, use a whisk.  A fork is NOT acceptable. 

4. Slowly add in the dry ingredients to the bowl with the liquid ingredients while the mixer is running on it (or while continuously mixing it with your whisk). 

5. Mix it well.  And I don't mean make a suspension.  Mix it really well! 

6. Put a non-stick flat pan over medium-low heat.  You DO NOT need a greasing agent. 

7. Divide the mixture into 3 equal parts and cook them individually.  You got that right! ONE BY ONE! 

8. To do this, pour the mixture onto the centre of the pan and allow it to spread by itself to form a circle.  Don't worry if it's not a perfect circle.  That's life! 

9. Allow about a minute of cooking and then check the underside.  If it's brown (like the photo above), flip it using your spatula or, if you're a kitchen diva, toss-flip it using the pan.  If you don't think it's brown enough, leave it to cook for a couple of more seconds but make sure you don't burn it because there's nothing more awful than burnt pancakes. 

10. After flipping it, cook the other side until you think it's done.  Channel your inner chef and you'll be able to tell intuitively.  Hahaha!  By the way, it's important to note that the other side looks completely different from the original underside.  It has more bubbles and it has a cake-like curve.  I call it the "puffed side." 

11. When cooked, remove from the pan and serve hot with margarine or maple syrup.  Or you can let it sit on a plate while waiting for the other pieces to cook so you can stack them and eat them all at once like a boss.

Garlic Chapati

a vegan bread

Chapati is a type of flat unleavened bread that traces its culinary origins from the Indian Subcontinent.  It's commonly made using only flour, water and a bit of salt but, in this case, I'm going to add garlic so we'll call it Garlic Chapati to avoid confusion.  It is best eaten with sauces like curry and marinara, or dips such as guacamole.

For every four (4) pieces, you will need:

- 1 cup (150 grams) of plain flour 

- 1/4 teaspoon of salt 

- 1/3 cup (80 millilitres) of water 

- 2 teaspoons of garlic paste

To make chapati:

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl and make some sort of well or hole in the middle. 

2. Stir the garlic paste into the water.  You will notice it form a suspension. 

3. Pour the garlic and water mix onto the well in the bowl. 

4. Mix the flour and the water to form some sort of ball.  Do not add any more water.  Just keep rolling the ball around until it collects the rest of the remaining flour and you are able to form a compact dough that is slightly sticky but soft. 

5. Leave the dough in the bowl and cover it with cling wrap or a plate and leave it in room temperature for 15 to 30 minutes. 

6. After resting your dough, divide it into four equal pieces.  Using your hand, form each piece into a small round flat disc about half an inch thick. 

7. Drop the disc onto a lightly floured surface and, using a floured rolling pin, gently roll the disc out into a very thin and flat circle about 7 or 8 inches in diameter.  Don't worry; it doesn't need to be perfect. 

8. If you have a roti pan or flat pan, use it.  Otherwise, you will have to settle for a frying pan with a flat base.  Put it over a stove on medium heat.  You don't want it too hot or you'll end up burning the chapati. 

9. Drop on one chapati at a time.  Yes, in case you're wondering, you have to cook it individually unless you have a freakishly large pan lying around your kitchen cabinet. 

10. After 30 seconds, you will notice the chapati begin to puff up.  Flip it over using a cooking spatula--preferably perforated.  On the flip side, use the spatula to push the puffed bubbles down without breaking or puncturing the bread.  Do this for about 10 seconds then flip the chapati over again. 

11. Press the bubbles gently with the spatula.  Your aim is not to have no bubbles (because if we wanted to do that, we could easily just poke a hole on it but that's not what we want to do).  We want to have just one large puff like a balloon and not individual bubbles. 

12. After another 10 seconds, flip it over again and press gently for 15 more seconds before putting it on a plate.  It's not necessary to achieve the balloon effect but it is necessary to keep gently pressing the chapati down as you cook it. 

13. Repeat the process for every piece of chapati you cook.