Spooky Vegan Mochi Brownies
Dense vegan fudgy brownies with chewy bouncy mochi bites made extra spooky with chocolate ghosts. A chocolate treat perfect for Halloween!
Servings: 16 bars
Ingredients
Mochi
- 200 g (1½ cup) glutinous rice flour
- 65 g (⅓ cup) granulated sugar
- 40 g (⅓ cup) cornstarch
- 360 mL plant based milk ,soy or oat is best
Brownies
- 235 g (1 cup + 3 tbsp) brown sugar ,packed
- 120 g (½ cup +1½ tbsp) white sugar
- 120 mL (½ cup) water ,room temp.
- 88 mL (6 tbsp) water ,room temp.
- 2 tbsp ground flaxseed*
- 187 g (1½ cup) all purpose flour ,sifted
- 65 g (⅔ cup) unsweetened cocoa powder ,sifted
- ½ tsp espresso powder ,optional
- ½ tsp salt
- 112 g (½ cup) olive oil
- 113 g (⅔ cup) chopped chocolate ,optional, adds extra oomph to already chocolatey brownies
Chocolate Ghosts
- 80 g (scant ½ cup) white chocolate ,chopped & melted
- 30 g (⅛ cup) dark chocolate ,chopped & melted
Instructions
Mochi
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, cornstarch and milk in a large microwave safe bowl. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and steam in the microwave on high for 2 minutes.
- Remove the cling wrap and stir the mixture. Re-cover the bowl with cling wrap and heat again on high for 2 minutes. The mixture should have thickened, should be hard to stir and semi translucent in appearance.
- If the dough remains to be liquidy/milky. Heat covered in 1 minute intervals until it reaches the desired consistency. Stir in between each interval so that the dough remains smooth. Leave to cool for 10 minutes.
- Once the dough is cool enough to handle, transfer to a clean surface dusted with cornstarch. Roll the dough out into a ½" thick rectangle, making sure to sprinkle more cornstarch over the surface if the dough gets sticky.
- Prepare a small bowl with cornstarch. Use a knife to cut small squares of mochi, dropping the squares into the bowl of cornstarch to coat all sides. Brush off any excess cornstarch and set the mochi aside.
Brownies
- Preheat oven to 355℉ (180℃) and line one 8×8" pan with parchment paper. Alternatively, you can grease the pan with butter. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix the flaxseed with 6 tablespoons of water then set aside to thicken for about 5 minutes. This will be your flax egg.
- Heat the sugars and the water in a small pot on medium heat until all the sugar granules have dissolved. Avoid boiling the syrup. It should be runny. Leave to cool for 5-8 minutes.
- While the syrup is cooling, mix all the dry ingredients together and create a well at the center. Pour in the olive oil, vanilla, flax egg and the cooled sugar syrup then mix until everything is just incorporated. P.S. A few lumps in the batter are perfectly ok.
Assembly
- Pour half of the batter into the pan. Lightly press the mochi pieces into the brownie batter. adding as much mochi as you like. Sprinkle half of the chocolate over the mochi layer.
- Pour in the remaining batter and sprinkle the last of the chopped chocolate on top. Bake for 30-35min or until a toothpick inserted at the center comes out with a few moist crumbs (aka it will not be a clean toothpick but it shouldn't have wet batter either).
- Leave the brownies to cool for 10 minutes in the pan then cool completely on a wire rack.
Chocolate Ghosts
- With a small spoon, add dollops of the melted white chocolate over the brownies. Then use the tip of the spoon to smear one end of the dollop to create a whispy effect. Wait for 5-10 minutes for the chocolate to set.
- Use a toothpick dipped in melted dark chocolate to create the eyes and mouth of the ghosts. When done decorating, serve and enjoy!
Notes
*For non-vegans, fresh milk can be used for the mochi and 2 eggs can replace the flax egg
*Do not leave the cooked mochi dough uncovered for hours when you are waiting for it to cool down (before the rolling out step). It will create a hard skin and will not be ideal for the soft mochi texture that we want.
*You can use all white or all brown sugar for the brownie batter depending on what you have on hand. I like to use a higher ratio of brown sugar to white for fudgier brownies.