Is is a brownie? Is it a cake?
Perhaps it's both! This dessert is like a cakier brownie, jam-packed with chocolate flavor. It can be made gluten-free with GF oats, but if you're not into running your oats through the food processor, you can simply use regular flour. Personally, I like the idea of getting more oats in my diet, since I hate oatmeal with a passion. (Overnight oats are decent, but hot oatmeal in the morning...yuck. I know, I know -- I'm a minority.)
This fun recipe was inspired by my healthy-ish Boozy Brownie in a Mug recipe. I wanted to make a full size cake version...and this recipe was born!
Boozy Brownie Cake with Strawberries
1 2/3 c. oat flour (ground up oats), or regular flour
1/2 c. coconut sugar
1 tsp. sea salt
3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/3 c. dark chocolate chips (vegan)
2/3 c. unsweetened applesauce
1/2 c. natural almond butter or cashew butter
1/3 c. pure maple syrup
1/4 c. vanilla-infused bourbon (learn how to infuse your own here!)
1/2 c. almond milk, or other non-dairy milk
1 c. freeze dried strawberries, plus more for garnish (optional)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease an 8x8 pan with coconut oil.
In a bowl, combine the oat flour, salt, cocoa, and baking soda. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the almond butter, sugar, applesauce, and maple syrup. Stream in the bourbon and milk. At this point, the mixture should be pretty soupy. Gradually add in your dry ingredients and make sure everything is combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and strawberries by hand.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes. If you insert a toothpick at this point, it may not look done; that's just the melted chocolate. It should be ready to come out.
You can top it with my fudge sauce and more freeze dried strawberries. Note: if you leave dehydrated strawberries on top too long, they will re-hydrate and get weird. Only sprinkle on the strawberries when you're ready to serve.
Cheers!
-Aileen