Coconut Custard Brownies

Heavily borrowed from Tofu for Two's Vanilla Custard Brownies. However, we were not paying attention to the conversions very carefully, so the texture is probably a bit different.
We made these yesterday for Jennifer's birthday and they turned so rich, fudgey and delicious!

Preheat oven to 350 and butter an 8 x 8 x 5 cooking dish.

The Custard Topping:

• 2-2.5 oz firm tofu (we just used what was left in the fridge)
  
• 1/4 cup light coconut milk
  
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  
• 4 tablespoons Karo syrup
  
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons corn starch
• 1 cup light shredded coconut
  

Mix ingredients well with a hand-mixer, then stir in coconut. Set aside.

The Brownie Batter:

• 4-5 oz semi-sweet chocolate
  
• 2 oz vegan butter
  
• 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 plain, plain yogurt
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
  
• 3 tablespoons coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar

Melt chocolate and butter on the stove, with a little water. Set aside to cool. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Then stir in the yogurt and coconut milk. Stir well then add in the chocolate and butter.

Pour into the greased baking dish. Pour the coconut and tofu mixture on top of the brownie batter. Take a knife and swirl the coconut mixture around for the marbled design.

Bake for 35-45 minutes. The original recipe said to bake for 35 minutes, but ours was not yet cooked in the middle so we left it in for an additional 8-10 minutes.

Coconut Pecan Crusted Brownies

Adapted from Epicurious.

For topping
3/4 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
3/4 cup pecans, chopped
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For brownie layer
1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 large eggs
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate melted
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Make topping:


In a 1 1/2-quart bowl stir together topping ingredients until combined well.

Make brownie layer:
In a 1 1/2-quart saucepan melt butter over moderately low heat. Melt in semi-sweet chocolate and stir frequently. Remove pan from heat and stir in sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well with a wooden spoon after each addition. Into a bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt and stir into butter mixture until just combined well.

Spread batter evenly in pan and sprinkle with topping. Bake brownies in middle of oven 30 to 35 minutes, or until a tester comes out with crumbs adhering to it. Cool brownies for 20 minutes or so before eating.

Split Pea Surprise

1 cup green split peas
1 cup frozen spinach
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 bouillon cube
1-2 tablespoons mustard seeds
1/2-3/4 cup dried coconut
1-2 tablespoons red thai curry
1-2 tablespoons ginger (grated or the paste in the jar)
dash of cumin and turmeric
water
toast mustard seeds in olive oil, add onion and saute with a little salt and pepper, add in bouillon cube, curry, ginger and other spices adding the garlic last, add in coconut, then spinach. add split beans and mix well. add water to cover, bring to a boil and stir. then simmer with the pot top partly open for 30 minutes or until peas are soft. stir occasionally so it doesn't stick to the bottom. if the water is boiling off too quickly, put the top completely on.

I think this would be good with other vegetables and I also though that instead of coconut, you could use coconut milk!

Lentil Surprise

1 cup red lentils
1 small onion
1 cup frozen spinach
1/2 pepper
1 tbl garam masala
1 tsp curry
1 tsp cummin
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
salt and pepper
3-4 cups vegetable broth

Saute onions until golden, add salt and pepper and spices. saute garlic until fragrant, add spinach and peppers. add lentils and coconut, stir.
Cover with vegetable broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, Cover. Simmer about 20-30 minutes. add more broth if it's too dry.
Enjoy!