Dairy Free & Soy Free Brownies

We returned from Aruba to a big snow storm in the city and Chris's 30th Birthday!  Chris insisted that all he wanted was to spend the day with Savanna and me, so that is what we did.  

He loves the snow and was actually born in a blizzard so we were very excited for the storm.  We took Savanna to the park on Saturday to see all the snow and to show her the thousands of kids having fun in the snow (the baby bjorn was a lifesaver we would of never made it around the streets with the stroller).  

I had asked Chris if he wanted regular brownies or if he would mind if I experimented with some dairy free soy free brownies, and he was so kind to allow me to experiment for his birthday!  Last year I made him red wine chocolate cake so this year I decided to try port infused brownies (do you see a trend :) ).

I found a recipe for Vegan Brownies and adapted it slightly to make them completely dairy and soy free and added the port.  They were actually quite fabulous, but you did not taste the port like you tasted the red wine in the cake.  They are more of fudgy vs. cakey brownie, but that is the way we like them in our household.  It was a great family Saturday until out of the blue Savanna decided she wanted to get up every hour that night (we have been lucky with her sleeping through the night for a few weeks now).  I guess that is life with a newborn and we would not have it any other way : )

Dairy Free and Soy Free Brownies - (adapted from here)

• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 4 ounces (about 1/2 cup) unsweetened applesauce
• 2 ounces port or melted chocolate
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup Enjoy Free Dairy Free and Soy Free Chips 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 8x8” pan with parchment and spray with cooking spray.
2. Stir together oil and sugar. Stir in vanilla, cocoa, and applesauce. Add port and salt, stir until smooth. Slowly stir in flour. Add chocolate chips.
3. Pour into prepared pan and bake 25-28 minutes. Cool before cutting.