Cocoa Vegan Brownies—Take One

Here we go! These are simple and college student friendly, and just happen to be vegan! Okay, I did actually make them in order to try my hand at making vegan brownies, but…my taste-testers claimed not to be able to tell any difference. Of course, most of them were from China, and the only girl who was actually vegan had never had a vegan brownie before.
These can also be Gluten-Free. In fact, I made them gluten-free the first time.
Cocoa Vegan Brownies:
2 cups gluten-free flour + 2 teaspoons ground flaxseed
1 cup sugar (if you leave out the maple syrup, increase the sugar to 1.5 or 2 cups)
3/4 cups cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup soy milk (you can use whatever kind here, but I would recommend not using almond milk as that would make it inedible for people with nut allergies)
1/2 cup vegetable oil (alternatively, if you have no applesauce, use a cup of oil)
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup strong coffee
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup maple syrup (only if using 1 cup sugar. You can leave this out and increase sugar to 1.5 or 2 cups, as above.)

Mix together the wet ingredients, and, in a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Pour into a greased 13x9” pan and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, 175 degrees Celcius, for 20-30 minutes.
Enjoy!
We ate the entire pan of brownies between the lot of us…actually, they were gone within an hour of the pan’s coming out of the oven. Of course, there were…about 14 of us.