Yummy chocolate brownies - dairy free!!

There's not many people who don't love a chocolate brownie every now and then, but most of the ones you can buy in the shops have some sort of dairy content, either butter or milk. Most traditional recipes for homemade brownies have the same issue. Of course, if you have some 100% dairy free spread to hand, you can easily substitute this for butter, use a non dairy milk and voila! But when there's no spread available, there's a brownie gap in my cake tin!

The other challenge over in India is finding cocoa powder. There is a local brand, but it doesn't taste very good and tends to be grainy. Cadbury's cocoa is my favourite, and should be a staple in any dairy free cupboard! Unfortunately, it's been a good 4 months since I've last seen it in the shops, so I was really excited the other day to find a tin and smiled all the way to the checkout, getting a few odd looks from the locals on the way!
This recipe uses oil rather than spread, and still produces delicious, gooey brownies although they can be a little greasy. I've tried different oils for baking - coconut oil is supposed to be excellent and does give a great texture but changes the flavour of the brownie. I bought some lovely delicious organic coconut oil recently, made a batch of brownies only to realise the oil had gone rancid really quickly (the downside of coconut oil) and they really tasted revolting. It was very sad to see the brownies in the bottom of the bin! So I now use organic canola oil, but rapeseed or any non-aromatic vegetable oil will do. The raisins enhance the texture, and increase the gooiness inside.
For those of you with egg allergies, try using an egg substitute, and reduce the cooking time as the brownies are drier.

Dairy free yummy chocolate brownies

2 medium eggs

1 cup caster sugar

5-6 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/3 cup oil

3/4 cup self raising flour

pinch salt

3 oz raisins
handful of chopped walnuts (optional)

Place the eggs and sugar in a bowl and mix together well. Add the cocoa powder and oil, and stir well. Add remaining ingredients - use a little non-dairy milk if it's too dry.

Place in a greased square 8 inch baking tin and bake at 180oC for 20 minutes or so until firm on top but soft to the touch. Take out of the oven and leave to cool in the tin, then cut into squares, remove carefully with spatula and enjoy!