I've been so excited to share these with you. I've been testing various recipe combinations for the perfect vegan gingerbread brownies! These brownies are gooey, festive, chocolate-packed, and are just adorable with gingerbread biscuits and people all over them and inside them. My friends, neighbours and flatmates have loved being guinea pigs for each testing batch, to help me get the scrummiest textures and flavour! They can be packaged up a late Christmas gift too.
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Louise and I have also got some fantastic news... our labour of love has arrived. It's our Christmas, Holiday and Thanksgiving cookbook, Festive Feasts (affiliate link). This is full of the most mouth-watering festive dishes from canapes, sides, centrepieces and of course, Vanessa' speciality, desserts. Christmas is about indulgence, wholesome, hearty food. Festive Feasts delivers on all those fronts. The book is available on Kindle or paperback - the perfect gift for loved ones, or just for yourself!
The Brownies and the Gingerbread
I am an absolute brownie lover, and wanted to create some for Christmas with a twist. These chocolatey gorgeous vegan brownies have gingerbread INSIDE them, as well as for decoration on the top. You can buy vegan gingerbread biscuits, or use our delicious and fun Gingerbread People recipe. The gingerbread pieces on the top are attached with a vegan buttercream. Of course, it is optional to decorate them - just the brownies baked with gingerbread inside is bliss.
When I made the gingerbread people, I cut out a variety of shapes from mini people (for inside the brownie) to bigger ones for the decoration, and also any other Christmasy shapes for just general gingerbread consumption! Because... I don't need a reason to eat extra gingerbread, thank you.
The brownie recipe is a new one I've come up with, that also works as a standalone recipe. So just exclude the gingerbread pieces and gingerbread spices if you want a standard but fully indulgent vegan brownie. That's you sorted for brownies all year round!
So what are the main ingredients that make these brownies so incredible
Cocoa / cacao - this forms part of the chocolate base for the brownies. If you want the healthier version, you can use cacao (affiliate link) instead of cocoa. Cacao is the purer form of cocoa (much less processed). While both are absolutely fine, cacao is a health food and is a delicious addition to breakfast recipes for a healthy chocolate flavour.
Vegan chocolate - the most important part the vegan gingerbread brownies!! This helps to give that deep chocolatey flavour. The melted chocolate that goes into the batter helps with gooey-ness, and the chocolate chunks give that extra chocolate experience and contrast in textures. I love using Green and Blacks dark chocolate (affiliate link) which is organic and high in cocoa solids.
Gingerbread spices - for that extra Christmasy Festive flavouring. I just used ground ginger, but you can add things like cinnamon, mixed spice and nutmeg. Add more or less depending on your taste buds, or if you think the kids will prefer a milder taste.
Linseed / flaxseed - this is the egg replacement that helps the bind the delicious vegan gingerbread brownies. Linseed / flaxseed is full of omega-3s and an incredible source of fibre. 1 tbsp of milled (i.e. blended) linseed + 3 tbsp water = 1 egg. I created a whole post on egg replacements and how to use them, which you may find very helpful.
The gingerbread biscuit - as mentioned, this can be made yourself or you can buy some biscuits. They are sooo much tastier made yourself, and our Gingerbread People recipe makes enough biscuits for the brownies, plus more to be eaten on their own!
The rest of what goes in the vegan gingerbread brownies are your standard, familiar cake recipe ingredients including flour, sugar, oil and icing / powdered sugar.
Below, you can find the Steps for making these delicious Vegan Gingerbread Brownies
If you loved this recipe, you may also love some of our other amazing chocolate and biscuit recipes!
Gluten Free Salted Peanut Choc Chunk Cookies
Nut Butter, Chocolate & Blueberry Blondies
The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache
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Gooey, cute and indulgent, these vegan gingerbread brownies are Christmas spiced and feature the most delicious gingerbread!
- 125 g brown sugar (⅔ cup)
- 50 g cocoa / cacao powder (½ cup)
- 180 g plain flour (1 ⅓ cup)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp ground ginger (or other gingerbread spices e.g mixed spice, cinnamon)
- 200 g dark chocolate, chopped (1 ⅓ cup)
- 100 ml sunflower/rapeseed oil (or melted coconut oil) (½ cup)
- 200 ml vegan (non-dairy) milk (¾ cup + 1 tbsp)
- 3 tbsp milled linseed / flaxseed mixed with 9 tbsp water (this makes 3 linseed eggs)
- 150 g vegan chocolate chunks / chips (1 cup)
- 10 approx vegan gingerbread biscuits (use our Vegan Larder Gingerbread People recipe or buy) broken into halves or quarters
- 50 g vegan butter (3.5 tbsp)
- 150 g icing / powder sugar (1 ¼ cup)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup / agave
- Extra vegan gingerbread people / pieces of gingerbread (use our Vegan Larder Gingerbread People recipe or buy)
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Preheat oven to 200°C and line a baking tin.
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Combine sugar, cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and ground ginger in a mixing bowl.
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Get your linseed / flaxseed egg ready (by combining the milled linseed with the water).
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Take the 200g of vegan chocolate, and melt over a bowl of hot water or in the microwave.
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Once the chocolate has melted, take off the heat and let cool for a few minutes.
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Mix the oil and plant milk together in a jug. Slowly add them, bit by bit, to the melted chocolate, stirring in as you do so.
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Mix the linseed/flaxseed egg, and the chocolate mixture, into the flour mix.
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Mix together to make a smooth batter.
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Mix in the chocolate chips / chocolate chunks.
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Carefully add and mix in the pieces of gingerbread biscuit.
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Pour the mixture into your lined brownie tin, and smooth the top down.
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Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer emerges clean.
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Once done, let the brownies cool in the tin. Then remove from the tin, cut up and decorate (optional).
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Make the buttercream icing by whipping together the vegan butter, icing / powdered sugar and maple syrup. Whip until creamy.
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Put a dollop of the whipped mixture on each brownie and stick a gingerbread person / piece of gingerbread to it.
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Enjoy with loved ones (or just for yourself!!).
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