okara-banana brownies

Let's try to wrest this blog out of the slight stagnancy I have let it fall into -- and let's do that with a fantastic chocolate dessert recipe. There's a ton of sugar in these, but you can pretend it's healthy with the addition of okara, banana, and pecans, with only a smidgen of oil.



In a small cup, combine
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 ounces very ripe banana (about one half of a large banana), broken into small chunks
and stir with a fork, breaking the banana into the smallest chunks you can. I guess you could do this in a blender, but it's fine not to liquefy it completely, and who wants to clean a blender out after such a small job?

Pour the contents of this cup into a bowl along with
5 1/2 oz. okara
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup almond milk
2 Tablespoons canola oil
1 Tablespoon vanilla
and whisk vigorously.



To this bowl, add
1 1/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
and stir with a spoon until the dry ingredients are incorporated into the batter.

Add
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans
and stir into the batter.



Pour batter into an oiled 8"x8" glass pan and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to cool (for at least 20 minutes), and cut into slices of your desired size.



Verdict: I thought these were great. Even though there were only two measly ounces of banana in the batter, its taste was discernible without being overpowering. This would be great served à la mode, maybe with some sliced banana and chocolate syrup.