Nuttery Buttery brownies - no eggs in this otherwise rich version

I have tried to stay away from the numerous groups of foodies online trying to cook to a theme, creating a dish out of special ingredient or cooking statewise food and many such wonderful experiments only because of time constraints. Not that I don't cook anymore but I just am not sitting down regularly to blog about it. Life seems to be on the fast track with no brakes, but the journey is what matters and I am having a blast. Will be more regular at blogging in a few months :-)

Having said that, I couldn't resist Gayathri's Eggless baking challenges which she re-opened up a month or so ago. I have seen her decadent baked goodies and have been in awe of how she figures out a perfectly eggless recipe for an otherwise much known eggy recipe. My baking love is extensively with breads as the process of mixing and kneading the dough to perfection relaxes me but I shy away from the more decadent, richer, sweet baked goods except on occasions as I don't normally use a lot of fat in my daily cooking nor are we as a family very fond of baked sweets. But then there is an exception for everything and a time for making exceptions, right?

I signed up with eggless baking group last month but didn't find the time nor the overwhelming desire to make the recipe as it seemed too rich, then the month rolled on, a new recipe was given to the group and not only did it look delicious but also seemed doable to me. And then the weekend happened, I had folks to share the richness with, so ventured in and made this eggless, dark chocolate, nut laden brownie today and can declare it as a successful bake. I blindly followed Gayatrhri's suggested egg replacements barring a minor change, result is a keeper brownie that is on the cake-y side.

And there was an occasion to bake this brownie too. BH & DD had been out of town travelling south from home for the last 4 days and then when they came back, BH got a couple of shot glasses (did I ever tell you, I collect shot glasses? just something I love to pick up from places we visit as a memento) and also got a dark chocolate guitar (totally edible), a super cutesy thing (DD said 'eeww' in a loud voice when she saw it and declared we were the weirdest set of parents one could have :-)) which I don't have the heart to break and consume. So it is all wrapped up pretty and sitting primly in the refrigerator. But as he handed me that guitar, I had the urge to make this brownie and take a picture with it so I could share on the blog (once a blogger, always a blogger and a foodie sees food in everything).

Reason #2, the recipe called for dark chocolate and I had this bag of superlicious Ghirardelli chocolates in the refrigerator that I had picked up sometime in December when I saw them during the holiday season and couldn't resist. I had no idea what I would make with them but since Ghirardelli is one of my favorite chocolates, I thought I would make good use of them some day.

So, with all the ingredients at hand, and Gayathri's accurate egg replacements, I whipped a batch of the brownies in under an hour (baking takes 35mins while prep takes about 10mins) and I was khush, so were everyone that ate it. I have a few packed up to take to work tomorrow.

I used regular home made yogurt instead of sour cream but kept all liquid to flour proportions same as the original recipe. This cakey brownie didn't miss eggs at all and it is a rich treat for any occasion. I would personally reduce the sugar to 3/4 cup next time as I like it a little less sweet. Other than that, this is a keeper.

Engage your spouse to be a helper in the kitchen but watch all the spoons and whisk if he is a chocolate lover like mine as they get licked off clean without any need for washing :-), the batter is delicious!

What do you need to make eggless brownies? 
1+1/4 cup all purpose flour/maida
1/2 cup or 1 stick (US measure) butter
1 cup good quality baking dark chocolate chips
3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup yogurt
1/4 cup milk
2 Tsp vanilla essence
1/2 Tsp baking soda
1/2 Tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped mixed nuts (I used slivered almonds, pine nuts and pecans)

How do you make brownies? 

• Preheat oven to 350F, line an 8 inch cake pan with a parchment paper.
• Put butter & chocolate chips in a glass bowl, microwave for 1-1.5 minutes until they melt in. 

• Stop at 1min and give it a mix. 
• Add vanilla essence and cocoa powder and mix in until homogeneous. 

• Sieve the flour, salt & baking soda together and keep aside. 
• In a large bowl, take yogurt, milk and sugar and whisk until they blend in (1-2 mins with a hand held whisk)
• Add the melted butter, chocolate mixture and give a good mix. 
• Add the flour mixture little by little and mix it in well without any lumps or dry powder. 

• Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and smoothen the top surface. 
• Sprinkle chopped nuts generously on top and bake for 30-35 minutes. 

• The center of my brownie collapsed a little but was cooked completely. 
• Take it out as soon as a tooth pick pushed in the middle comes out without a gooey sticking batter. 
• As it cools, the brownie becomes a little more solid. 

• Cut into shapes and serve. 

Notes: 

• This is a cake like brownie and not fudgy. 
• Do not wait for the tooth pick to be clean completely before taking out of the oven or it becomes very crumbly. 

Linking this to Gayathri's Fun with Egg Free Baking event