No Butter Cocoa Brownies!

I usually make any chocolate recipe with dark chocolate bars. I wanted to see how cocoa powder would work in a brownie and decided to try out SmittenKitchen's recipe! Of course I had to make some changes. I completely eliminated butter and used applesauce as a replacement. I also put in half brown sugar and half regular sugar. The result was a VERY chocolate-y bittersweet brownie. If you are a fan of dark chocolate, you will love this!

Ingredients -

Unsweetened applesauce - 10 tbsps
Sugar - 1 1/4 cup - I used half cup brown sugar and the rest regular sugar.
Cocoa powder - dark, unsweetened - 3/4 cup
Salt - a pinch
Vanilla extract - a dash
Eggs - 2
Flour - 1/2 cup
Walnuts - chopped - as preferred.


Method -

1. Preheat oven to 325F

2. Mix applesauce, sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract and salt in a bowl. Whisk till smooth and shiny.

3. Add in the eggs and mix.

4. Add in the flour, mix.

5. Pour into a greased 8 x 8 pan and sprinkle on the walnuts.

6. Bake for 30-35 minutes in the preheated oven at 325.

7. Ready to take out when a toothpick comes clean when inserted in the center.

8. Cool and serve with a dusting of icing sugar on top.

The brownies have a lovely crispy exterior with a moist interior. These are not the sweety sweet brownies which I'm not a great fan of. In my opinion, the bittersweet taste really makes the chocolate flavor shine. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!