Vegan Lotus Biscoff Brownies: For Cosy Days

If you love chocolate, if you love biscuits, if you love brownies, if you love all things sweet and if you love quick and easy recipes that provide you with the ultimate sweet tooth satisfaction its safe to say I think you will love this! These were literally the gooiest, chewiest and most scrumptious brownies I have ever tasted and the perfect heart warming treat for this cosy month. So if you'd like to know how I created these beauties keep reading!

The brownie recipe I used to base my Lotus Biscoff Brownies on was the Double Chocolate Brownies recipe from the 1001 Cupcakes, Cookies & Other Tempting Treats recipe book (the full reference for the book is at the bottom of this post!) and I adapted the recipe by swapping the butter and chocolate for dairy free substitutes, the eggs for banana and removed the chocolate chips and fudge sauce so credit to the 1001 Cupcakes, Cookies & other tempting treats recipe book for the basis of this recipe. As you can also tell I added my own little decorative creations to bedazzle these beast up too!

You will need:

For the brownie -

• 115g Flora Freedom Dairy Free Spread
• 55g dairy free vegan plain chocolate bar (I used two ASDA Free From Choc Bars)
• 60g Lotus Biscoff Smooth Spread
• 300g caster sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 medium sized banana
• 140g plain flour
• 2 tbsp coco powder
• A baking tray/ dish (I used a circular Pyrex dish because I have currently lost my brownie baking tray :D it still worked perfectly though!)

For the decorations - 

• 1 tbsp of Lotus Biscoff Smooth Spread
• 1/2 a pack of Lotus Biscoff Biscuits

How to make the brownies:

• I firstly preheated my oven to 180 degrees Celsius and got me old Pyrex dish out. Now's the time to grease your baking tray if you aren't using a Pyrex dish like me. Or fill it with grease proof paper! I find this a much more effective way of whacking the old cakes out without them sticking!
• In full baking preparations, I then chopped up and mashed my whole banana and left it to one side once well mashed so I could instantly add it to my mixture momentarily.
• Now for the melting time! I melted my butter, chocolate and 60g of Lotus Biscoff Smooth Spread together over a medium heat and keep gently mixing until the ingredients were just melted together and removed it from the heat as soon as the mixture was completely melted. Don't let it burn!
• Once removed from the heat I then immediately, in a separate bowl, mixed the sugar, salt, vanilla extract and banana together and then sift and folded in the flour and coco powder.
• Upon giving my mixture a final grand mix, to ensure it was all blended together, I then poored it into my Pyrex dish.
• Mine took approximately 1 hour to cook however the recipe advises to cook the brownie for between 35 to 40 minutes so I would say aim for 35 minutes and then check the brownie to see if it is cooked every following five minutes by sticking a cake tester stick or fork into the centre of the brownie. 
• You will know the brownie is done when your cake tester stick/ fork comes out relatively clean (this recipe makes quite a gooey brownie so the cake tester stick/ fork may naturally not come out quite as clean as if it was a cupcake) and the top of the brownie is firm and crisp.
• Now for cooling time. I allowed my brownie to cool in the Pyrex dish for at least an hour to help it stick together and set in all its gooey-ness. 
• I then placed my cooling rack over the brownie in the dish, held both items together and flipped them upside down so my brownie was sitting neatly on the rack and I could gently remove the dish from on top of it.
• If not cooled on the top now, leave it for around another 15 minutes to air.
• Once cooled I then transferred my brownie to a plate and cut it into whatever shapes and sizes my heart desired.
• Preparing to decorate the chocolatey beast, I then melted 1 tbsp of Lotus Biscoff Smooth Spread in a cup in the microwave for around around 10 to 20 seconds, mixing in between.
• Leave your Biscoff spread to cool for a short moment and split some Lotus Biscoff Biscuits up into halves, depending on how many individual brownies have been cut.
• Now carefully, when the mug had cooled, I finally drizzled the melted Lotus Biscoff Spread over the brownie pieces in my own unique swirly creation.
• Top each with half a Lotus Biscoff biscuit and you and I are ready to serve/ devour these scrumptious treats!

And that my friends is my little take on how to transform a basic brownie recipe into and Autumnal-ly scrumptious delight! I hope you enjoyed the post and the brownies for that matter if you are having a go and as always please do not hesitate to send me some snaps of your beautiful brownies if you decide to recreate these little gems to! 

Happy feasting-s my little leaf friends!

Ellie x

1001 Cupcakes, Cookies & Other Tempting Treats, Love Food, © Parragon Books Ltd 2011.