Brownie Parfait

♫ Listening to: Anything by Adrianne Lenker ♫

I shared these with multiple people (vegans and muggles), and everyone thought they were quite delicious. The secret is that they actually only have 2 ingredients: brownies and whipped cream.

The brownies are my tried and true brownie recipe, and the whipped cream can be made in 5 minutes using the instructions below. You can make these in advance in jars or glasses and chill them until you’re ready to serve them. They should stay good in the fridge for up to 5 days. If you need them to last longer, you can use ice cream in place of the whipped cream and then store them in the freezer covered until you’re ready to serve them.

This recipe makes 2 vegan brownie parfaits. To make more, you only need to double or triple the whipped cream part of the recipe. The brownie recipe is enough to make 6.

Brownie Ingredients

• ⅓ cup (80g / 75ml) sunflower oil (or sub any vegetable oil)
• 1 ⅓ cup (400g) organic, vegan, or raw sugar*
• 1 cup (230g / 240ml) vanilla nondairy milk
• ½ tablespoon (5g / 7ml) apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon (4g / 5ml) vanilla extract
• 2 cups (265g) unbleached flour
• ½ cup (50g) cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon (7g) baking soda
• 1 teaspoon (5g) baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon (1g) salt

Brownie Directions

prep time: 15 minutes | bake time: 30 minutes | cool time: 2 hours or overnight | ears and noses time: 10 minutes

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Mix the wet ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer until the sugar dissolves: ⅓ cup of vegetable oil, 1⅓ cup of sugar, 1 cup of nondairy milk (I used organic soymilk from Whole Foods because their 365 brand is cheap af, but if you avoid soy, you can use any nondairy milk), ½ tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, and the teaspoon of vanilla extract. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can mix by hand or use a handheld electric mixer.

Sift the dry ingredients together in a bowl: 2 cups unbleached flour (if you want to make them healthier, you can use half whole wheat pastry flour), ½ cup cocoa powder (try to find fair-trade cocoa if you can), 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder (I use aluminum-free), and ¼ teaspoon pink sea salt (any salt is fine, but pink salt has trace minerals in it).

Mix the dry and wet ingredients together just until incorporated (until you no longer see any dry spots).

Transfer the batter into a parchment paper covered lasagna pan (mine was 9"x13”).

Bake for 30 minutes (or until you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean).

Remove from the oven, and place the brownies on a cooling rack.

Remove brownies from the pan by grabbing the edges of the parchment paper and lifting them onto a cutting board, and leave there until the brownies have cooled completely.

Cut out small circles and large circles out of the pan of brownies using biscuit cutters (you want 3 small circles and 2 large circles for each parfait). The small circles are for the bear ears and noses. The large circles should be the size of the glass you’re using to layer your parfaits in.

Eat the brownie scraps or use them to make more parfaits, crust for an ice cream cake, or cake pops. I just ate them all in less than 24 hours (including for breakfast the next day) because I’m a chocoholic.

Save the brownies in a tupperware with a lid until you’re ready to assemble your parfaits.

Coconut Whipped Cream Ingredients

prep time: 10 min

• 1 can of full-fat coconut milk (I buy the organic 365 brand from Whole Foods), chilled overnight
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• ¼ cup vegan or organic powdered sugar*, sifted

Coconut Whipped Cream Directions

Open the can of chilled coconut milk.

Scoop out just the solid part, and add to the bowl of a stand mixer (save the liquid from the can to use in other recipes or do add to smoothies).

Whisk the solid coconut milk, 1 tablespoon vanilla, and ¼ cup sifted powdered sugar until smooth using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer.

How to Layer the Brownie Parfait Dessert

assembly time: 10 min

Assemble the brownie parfaits by starting with a layer of brownie on the bottom of the glass or jar. Then add a layer of coconut whipped cream. Then add a second layer of brownie. Then top with whip.

Decorate with ears and nose if you want your parfaits to look like bears. This step is obviously optional. If you want to go the extra step, you can pipe a mouth onto the bear noses with a thick paste of powdered sugar mixed with water. I used a Lékué deco pen to pipe mine, but you can also just use a toothpick to dip and draw.

Here’s a video of me live streaming while I make these, but it’s mostly just me chatting and not much parfait action, just to warn you.

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* I use mostly organic ingredients when I cook, but I realize that not everyone has the disposable income to purchase all organic ingredients. Therefore, I only specify organic on the ingredients that really matter - when buying the organic version is the only way to ensure that the item is vegan.

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