I decided that this week I wanted to make a desert out of one of my old favorite snacks: applesauce.

I used to eat one of those small, pre-packaged bowls of applesauce every day after school, and I was out grocery shopping this week when I realized I haven’t eaten applesauce since getting to college. Still, plain old applesauce does not hold the same appeal that it used to, so I wanted to try making something out of it.

Today, I’m making delicious and gooey applesauce brownies. Here are the ingredients I used: img_2734

  • 1 1/2 cups of white sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder (unsweetened)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
  • 2 cups applesauce
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 cups flour

I’ll begin by saying that any type of electric mixer will be really helpful on this project. I was able to do it with my hands, but it would have gone a lot faster if I had used a mixer.

To start, combine the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl. I microwaved the stick of butter for a few seconds before adding it in with the sugar to make my life a little easier. Once it is all mixed together, it should be sort of doughy. I did part of this with a wooden spoon and then went and mixed it with my hands, which I would recommend doing if a mixer isn’t available.

Then, add in the eggs and mix until it turns creamy. It’s really important at this point to make sure everything is mixed in smoothly, because it will be a lot harder to smooth it out in later steps.

Start slowly including the cinnamon, baking soda, cocoa powder and flour. The recipe I was looking at said to sift all of these ingredients, but I found that it’s really only important to sift the cocoa powder because it tends to clump together. I don’t have a sifter because my roommates and I have no understanding of what an adult’s kitchen should have in it, but instead I used the bottom part of a pasta strainer. It’s definitely not the same thing, I know, but it got the job done.

Next I added in the applesauce a cup at a time. Once again, I ignored the recipe a little bit because it said to add the applesauce gradually while doing the previous step, but it does not make a difference in consistency and it is so much easier to add it when all of the dry ingredients are in.

I poured the batter into a pretty large baking pan (I never pay attention to baking pan sizes, just grab a big one). Make sure it’s smoothed out and start working on the topping. These are the ingredients:img_2741

  • 1 cup chocolate chips (semi-sweet)
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1/2 cup sugar

Mix those together in a small bowl and then simply sprinkle it over the top. More walnuts can be used, but I don’t particularly like nuts and they’re expensive, so I only used half of a cup.

Now it’s ready to bake! Place the pan in the oven for half an hour at 350 degrees. I would continue to check on it based on how big of a pan it is in or how thin the batter is laid out. Mine was a little thick, so I baked it for about 5-7 minutes longer than the recipe suggested.

When it comes out of the oven, stick a fork inside to make sure it is gooey while the outside should be a little more crisp. If it’s good to go, then cut into squares and start serving! This is a great treat for people who do not like super rich brownies, but still want something sweet and warm to serve up during the colder winter months.

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Enjoy!