Easy Cakey Brownies

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Easy Cakey Brownies is a simple one-bowl chocolate brownie recipe. They are dairy free (without butter or milk), made with oil.

Easy Cakey Brownies aren’t overly sweet. They are delicious plain, topped with confectioners sugar, or your favorite frosting. Great for a snack or desert any time and so easy, you will want to make them again and again.

Want to try other brownie recipes as well? Try: Easy Dairy Free Brownies and Easy Dairy Free Chewy Brownies

By the way, if you like these brownies, you may also like dairy free Easy Blondies!

If I can bake, anyone can

I am the type who hates paying more for something than I feel it’s worth and and loathe paying a lot for something I can bake at home.

So, paying a lot of money for a cake similar to one I can bake on my own just doesn’t work for me.

My problem was that I couldn’t really make a layer cake. I could make one in a 9″ x 13″ pan, but not one that could be used for a birthday or celebration.

For years, I tried, failed, and gave up. Then again, tried, failed and gave up.

It normally wasn’t the taste that was the problem, it was other things such as density or lopsidedness.

One day, I decided that no matter what, I would learn to make a decent looking cake (I wasn’t even aiming for good-looking, just decent).

One day, my daughter Elissa came into the kitchen during one of my “I will learn to do this” phases and stopped.

“You are NOT really measuring oil in the palm of your hand!”

I wasn’t sure what the problem was. I couldn’t be bothered to stop what I was doing to get the measuring spoons and I certainly know what a tablespoon of oil should look like…

“You can’t bake the way you cook,” she informed me (I often cook by “it looks right” or “it tastes right”, not by directions – which I often find people make unnecessarily complicated).

Finally, I decided OK, I am going to follow directions. I will measure properly and that will be it. So, I did.

The cake came out tasting really good, but it was really heavy.

I complained to Elissa.

“I followed the directions and even measured and look at it!”

We decided that she would try the recipe to see what was wrong (she is great at following exact measurements and was tired of my complaining).

I read the instructions to her (off a very highly reviewed recipe) and was very gratified when it came out heavy for her too. Ha!

She insisted we go over the instructions again and she also wanted to see the original recipe. I gladly showed her.

“You doubled the recipe,” she accused me. “Why?”

“Because I wanted a higher cake.”

“That is NOT considered following directions. The recipe is for two pans and you put double in each pan, so it couldn’t rise.”

Oh. I took back my “ha” and never did that again.

After a while, I finally gave in. Now, I follow directions, measure properly, and use the proper tools.

Not surprising, everything I bake comes out as it should (of course…as long as I don’t forget to remove from the oven…!).

Baking Pantry Essentials

I never know when someone in my family is going to want a dessert at home, to bring to a friend’s house or need for an event, so I like to make sure I can bake anything with very short notice.  To that end, I keep a variety of supplies and ingredients in the house that will allow me to do just that. 

I can’t tell you how many times I was glad to have whatever I needed within reach for the last minute visitor or for when one of my kids went to a friend or had a school event without much prior notice.

I have slowly collected things over the years as I needed them (or if I found a good sale) and like to keep more than one of the smaller items, in case I don’t want to wash dishes in the middle of baking.

My basic “equipment” includes:

• a stand mixer, which I use mostly for dough and, sometimes whipping
• a hand mixer (for things that aren’t dough and I don’t want to mix manually)
• a small scale
• different sizes and shapes of baking pans, including loaf pans
• mixing bowls (or just large bowls – I have plastic, glass, and metal)
• cookie sheets 
• pie dishes
• dry measuring cups
• liquid measuring cups
• whisks
• rubber spatulas (really good for when you don’t want to leave anything in the bowl)
• rolling pins
• a baking mat for rolling out dough
• baking strips
• a good supply of baking (or parchment) paper (also round for layer cakes)

I can certainly get by without a lot of the above, but it makes baking so much simpler when I just have whatever I need at my fingertips.

In addition to the equipment, there are the baking ingredients that I try to keep in the house at all times: 

• flour
• white granulated sugar
• brown sugar (light/dark – I usually keep dark)
• confectioners sugar(powdered sugar)
• salt
• baking powder
• baking soda 
• cocoa powder
• ground cinnamon
• ground nutmeg
• ground ginger
• ground cloves
• baking chocolate
• chocolate chips
• instant dry yeast
• vanilla and/or vanilla sugar
• cooking oil/cooking spray
• margarine or butter
• eggs
• honey
• instant coffee
• various extracts (real or imitation)

I also make sure that I have the following on hand to be able to make a variety of fillings, frostings, and toppings:

• whipping cream
• powdered pudding mix
• powdered sugar
• a good chocolate spread

Then, there is the following to make last-minute quick desserts:

• packaged pie dough or ready-made pie crusts
• puff pastry dough

Lastly, it’s not a bad idea to keep fun toppings, such as chopped walnuts, raisins, and the oh-so-important container of sprinkles.

If you already have a similar baking pantry set up, chances are that you don’t even need to go to the store for any of the ingredients to whip up a batch of Easy Cakey Brownies!!

And did you know that cocoa powder has some health benefits? Well, it does!

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Yield: 16 brownies

Easy Cakey Brownies

Print

Chocolatey melt-in-your-mouth cakey brownies without milk

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 2 cups white granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla flavoring (vanilla extract or imitation extract, as long as the flavor isn't weak)

Instructions

1. Whisk flour, cocoa, sugar, and salt together in a bowl.
2. Add oil, water, and vanilla flavoring and mix well.
3. Add walnuts (if desired) and mix well.
4. Pour into an 8" x 8" square pan that is lined with baking paper or greased well.
5. Place in an oven that has been preheated to 350°F.
6. Bake for approximately 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and the top is just firm all over.
7. Let cool and cut into squares.

Notes

* any kind of vanilla flavoring (real/imitation) that has a strong vanilla flavor.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

16

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 228Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 84mgCarbohydrates: 34gFiber: 1gSugar: 25gProtein: 3g

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