Summer Bummers
After six days of above 70-temperatures, summer is getting a lot of lovin’ in this house. As a mom it is deeply ingrained in me to not play favorites, not even with seasons. It’s as instinctual as licking a napkin to wipe a sticky face, using a bare hand to grab a booger out of a tiny nose or asking anyone and everyone if they need to use the potty before we leave. (Good job, Pea Daddy…you get a chocolate chip!)
In the interest of fairness to Winter, Spring and Fall, I’d like to point out that Summer has its own issues. Of course, Summer fails to tell you about its flaws until you are sun-kissed head over open-toed heels in love and convincing yourself that you can live with his faults or better yet, that “you’ll change him.” Things like:
- You sweat so much during your morning run that there’s no way you are getting more than one wear out of your sports bra without washing it.
Not that I’d ever do that…
- You have to be far more meticulous when shaving your knees or else it just looks like your
Grammy’s chin is sticking out of your shorts.
Grammy’s other chin may have been nicked and covered with a Hello Kitty Band-aid.
- There’s no chance of getting your kids to finish their lunch when there is a swimming pool three feet away.
Same goes for breakfast, snack, second snack, dinner and dessert.
- You are going through towels faster than you can launder them.
Gigi dried off from her final swim with a hearty shake and three squares of Brawny Select-A-Size.
- You have to make friends who will eat the orange Popsicles that you’ve avoided for the last week.
Grape went all too fast, and if you even think about choosing a cherry, you can just show yourself to the door.
- Summer accessories are way more trouble then they are worth.
Look at my poor emaciated vegan child. Wasting away to nothing before our eyes.
- It’s too hot to bake.
Come on, you know me better than that…
Double Chocolate-Single Chin Brownies
- 3/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/3 c. cocoa powder
- 2 t. baking powder
- 1/2 t. baking soda
- 1/2 t. salt
- 1 c. unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 c. organic sugar
- 1 t. vanilla
- 1/2 c. vegan chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a smaller bowl, combine applesauce, sugar and vanilla.
Add wet to dry and mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
Pour batter into an 8×8 pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
Bake for 20 minutes or until brownies are set and edges are coming away from the pan.
Let cool before cutting and serving, preferably poolside.
- You get brownies floating in your pool.
At least I hope those are brownies.
- Your children are so tired from six straight days of playing in the sun and water that they have trouble staying awake before dinner, gulp down every last bite of their leftover bean burgers without complaint and ask to go to bed at 7:30 p.m.
I take it all back. Summer, you are the best season ever. Suck it, Winter.
“suck it winter” LOL!!! There are some WAY too cute LuLu photos in this post…love the last one, they look like zombies! I have all of those ingredients…making them tomorrow for Chris’s arrival home! I may have to incorporate peanut butter into them
So true about the knees!! And lulu looks so grown up in that last photo-crazyness.
This post makes me laugh, but seriously, all of your posts do
Those brownies look amazing…heck, they probably look amazing chillin’ in the pool too. Lulu and Gigi know what’s up – grape popsicles are awesome.
yeah, that’s right!! suck it winter!!!! ahha i am totally loving summer right now, even if for the super smelly sport bras, increased laundry loads, sweaty messes, and more frequent shaves…. the sun is so glorious and way way way better than shivering in the cold!!
i LOVE the name of the brownies… ahah i totally laughed. double chocolate single chin = best name ever.
ps. i will eat your orange popsicles!
haha this post is too funny!
I noticed that you use apple sauce in your baking – and am intrigued. Do you use it as a replacement for butter? Seems like a great alterantive to me!
Yup, I swapped it for the oil. I figured with the chocolate chips, the kids would never notice.
I still haven’t seen very warm weather! I’m jealous of how warm Oregon is getting, now it just needs to warm up a bit more in Seattle so I can go for some sweaty runs!
The bottom row of my keyboard is now covered in drool. Darnit, those look yummy!
If you could send some of your summer weather up north, we’d really appreciate it. As well as the orange popsicles (my fave!). And some brownies. That is all.
:O Those brownies sound amazing! Do they not have any egg subs in them? Impressive anyway – they’re totally on my baking list
Nope, no egg subs. The leavening agents do the dirty work!
Those brownies look amazing! I agree with Freya, definitely on my baking list.
I love this post and the part about your “poor emaciated vegan child wasting away to nothing” made me laugh – not an easy task to do at 5:30 in the morning and 4 hours of sleep!
Brownies look delicious!!
I’m with you on summer, except I long for a pool in our backyard (or at least in the neighborhood) and I’d give anything for the temps to break out of the upper 90s!
Those brownies sound fabulous. And…I sweat like a man and still use the sports bra more than once. I’m gross.
good thing its just brownie floating in the pool and not another “brownie colored” floating object, haha!
p.s.
You think Amranat or coconut flour would work?
Oh my gosh, I swear you girls get cuter and cuter every day!!!
That picture of brownie eating made my day.
This post is summer, all summed up. Love it!
Summer really is wonderful, isn’t it?!
I love the name of the brownies, by the way, and am looking forward to making them soon!
What kind of Cocoa Powder do you recommend? I have tried a couple of the recipes you have w/ the Hersheys cocoa powder I had on hand, and nothing came out tasting right. you know when you can’t get your kids to eat something chocolate, something has gone wrong!!
The pic with Lulu and the brownie in her mouth is classic!!! So cute!! I love this post!!! ALl your post are always great!!!
Looks like the kids are enjoying the summer very much!
Love the brownie recipe! Looks delish as ever!!!
when I was growing up I was thankful that my mom LOVED the “flavor” orange…muahaha. Sucker.
Ahhh, summer is DEFINITELY my favorite season. I have no trouble playing favorites
Yep, Lulu looks seriously deprived, ha
I too love exhausting them in fresh air! It makes me feel so accomplished! Although, here in Atlanta…it is too hot to bake past noon! UGH, I am about ready for fall!
You always make me laugh, but above 70 temps had me rolling as a Texan! That’s winter temps! You should see my sportsbras from just walking to and from my car in the driveway.
hahaha i love your posts, they seriously bring a smile to my face everytime I read them!! these brownies look So good and quite healthy as well
I may have to whip up a batch sooner than later 
i am NOT an orange popsicle fan either!! cherry all the way!!
I crave that exhaustion that comes from a busy day of playing in the sun. Sitting at my desk typing under flourescent lights certainly delivers a different type of tired.
I’m happy to see you’re all doing well and filling up those vitamin D stores.
xo
Winter can totally suck it. I love summer, even if I sweat like a man. I love that it stays light out until late. I love not having to put on multiple layers of outerwear. I do not love the humidity we’ve been dealing with in the northeast. Apparently, when you’re in your thirties, you’re too old to handle such conditions (in my case anyway). To ease the pain, I’m coming over for some brownies. They look delicious!
I agree! Summer rules
Literally LOLed at your “malnourished” child! Gigi and Lulu should be poster children for most well-balanced kids in the country.
And now I want brownies at 9am. Definitely making those!
Crackin’ me up! And I would never wear a sports bra more than once without washing it either
.
If I’m within three feet of a pool, I also will not finish my lunch!
Only just above the 70′s? I’m so jealous! We’re in our 20th day in a row of temperatures over 95. Plus humidity and no breeze!
Fabulous post, as always
Grape always wins first pick in the Summer Popsicle Draft. Never fails.
Single chin brownies….I thank you for that recipe!
Those look great! I love me some brownies.
I also adore summer, but it has almost been too hot here this year. And I’m not lucky enough to have it wear out my daughter. She just fights bedtime longer because it is light outside. Joy. LOL Although summer still wins over winter, that’s for sure.
I can’t get my daughter to finish a meal these days either, and before every meal she says “and thank you for the sunshine.” We love you summer! Thanks for finally coming to PDX.
oh em geeeeeeeeee. LULU is sooo adorableeeeeee.
Love that heart tankini too! What stylin kiddos.
I love that you called these “single chin”! Cracked my ass right up!
Those brownies look too good to be true, and I’m all about a single chin! I relate on the sports bra issue, and the knee issue.
Yum, yum, yum! Those brownies look good and I just love the photo of Lulu eating it, hehe!
You can totally invite me over because I’m all about the orange Popsicles. I’ll leave the man at home cause he’d loot your freezer for the cherry
hah your girls are so cute. I totally agree with the sports bra. My sports bra gets soaked from my running that it goes straight into the laundry. So awful
Those brownies look delicious and I absolutely love summer as well! Running in the heat isn’t so wonderful but I love not having to bundle up!
6 days of temps above 70′?? I want to live where you are! It was 108′ here yesterday
Yummo! Brownies WITH chocolate chips? Lovely :> And I agree: you and your girls seem to be glowing with health!
Those pictures of Lulu with the goggles might be my favorite photos to appear on your blog ever. So cute and funny!
I’m totally making these. I’ll bet you right now that if I don’t tell the hubs they’re vegan, he will never know
classic brownie name!
I’ll come over and eat your orange popsicles… and I’ll bring my own towel…
(I was JUST thinking about this yesterday… we’re getting ready to open our pool for the season – Portland finally caught up to summer – and the ongoing towel predicament.) Never enough.
and honestly?? this morning I added Buy More Workout Bras to my to do list for that exact reason!!
seriously !
Um…above 90 for the past 5 days. GA! I really hate using the oven or the stove in the heat. It is putting a damper on my pasta with veggies and goat cheese.
Ditto with Jill above – It was 98 here yesterday and has been such for the past 10 days.
And you can totally still wear your sports bras twice. Just do what I do – put them in the sink with a little warm water and some soap, swirl it around, and let it sit in the soapy water while you shower. When you get out, rinse the bra out, twist to get the water out, then hang on a hook somewhere to dry. It’s good for at least another run.
I hear all of every mention of clothing getting sweating and needing immediate washing.
Also, I love the chocolate smiles (beats orange slices for photo ops for sure). Kids crashing at 7:30- always a good thing
…unless they wake up early. sorry if that’s the case!
Yeah, they were up at 6 am. You totally called that one.
Your daughters are the greatest example of how healthy vegan kids can be! I can’t get over how cute they are.
Not THAT kind of brownies, heh!
I wish we had summers like you get – we’re lucky here if we get two days with hot weather in a row!
Still, I don’t need any excuse to make brownies….
Orange is the first color to go in our house. Too bad we aren’t neighbors!
I might make those brownies tonight… once the sun goes down and it cools off a bit.
I might make those brownies tonight, once the sun goes down and it cools off a bit
I knew the baking had to be a trick…no way you would do that or that Pea Daddy and the girls would let you get away with that
Ohhhh my dearest Mama Pea!!! I’ve missed you so
But not to worry I’ve creeped sufficiently so as not to miss the happenings in your life!
I’m all about the sink rinse with the sports bras, this boston humidity is KILLIN me smalls! I haven’t tried it with towels- that sounds a little aggressive…
xoxo glad u guys are all doing well!!! LOVE U!
Touche on the sports bra…except in my case, society gets an exponential increase in my stank as well. Laundry graph parallels this sweat pattern.
The brownie in the pool reminds me of caddyshack- the candy bar in the pool. Love that scene! Did lulu pick it out and eat it while others cringed in disgust? I kid, I kid.
This recipe couldn’t have come at a better time. I saw some dense, moist brownies at Starbucks yesterday and decided I needed a good brownie recipe.
How is your grandfather doing?
I just got off the phone with him, which was hard.
He’s not himself yet. He’s moving from a rehab facility to assisted living on Thursday. Thank you for asking.
Oh to be a child again! i remember those days of mud, sprinklers and unfinished pb and j. hahahhaa!
and that brownie recipe looks like mine! hope yours were more tasty though…mine were kinda rubbery! boohiss!
Ours were great…in fact, I made a second batch tonight!
I made these brownies last night and they were delicious! I am 6 months pregnant and have been wanting brownies, but healthier ones, these were great!
I made them last night, too! I LOVED them – so yummy and guilt-free. I packed one for an afternoon snack today
Wow, that mouthful of masticated brownie really brings out the blue in Lulu’s eyes!
Catching up on the week in Pea-land, my computer’s been virusy. Enjoy the day!
I made these brownies today (with the few slight modifications suggested by Ashley of The Edible Perspective) and they are AH-MAZING! So much better than “No Pudge Fudge”. Thank you so much for this incredible healthier brownie recipe – I’m sure I will be making them for years to come!
So happy to hear it, Lauren!
These brownies not only LOOK great, they are great.
I made a batch yesterday and while we did enjoy them poolside, they were even better consumed over the kitchen sink at 2am. And, the name holds true – I can happily report that I woke up and found I had maintained my “single chin” status. Whew!
Two more batches in the oven today – one to welcome our new neighbors and another to share at a family get together tonight. Well done and thanks for sharing!!
Awesome, Julie! I’m so glad you guys enjoyed…even at 2 am. I appreciate the feedback!
These rock! Perfect for our 4th of July gathering today. I’m sure I’ll be making them again, soon, too! Thanks, yet again, MP!
I have had this recipe bookmarked for a while and finally made a batch tonight. I thought they’d be okay, but they were AMAZING! Light and fluffy, yet chewy, moist, and chocolatey. I’ve already had 2 brownies and I’m resisting a 3rd (for tonight at least). Will this recipe be in your book?
Thanks, Therese! Yes, they were a last-minute addition to the book because they were THAT good
I got here because someone on FoodGawker made your recipe with rave reviews! I’m definitely going to have to try these.
Your girls are absolutely darling! And YOU are absolutely hilarious.
I have made these twice now.
Batch 1: Creme de Menthe, no chocolate chips. Divine.
Batch 2: White Choc Chips + Dried cherries. Even more divine. If that is possible.
These are going to be my go-to brownie recipe from now on!
I can’t believe I waited this long to make these… But I just made these last week and I’m speechless. I thought my buttery sugary go-to brownies could never be replaced. Now… I seriously don’t think I’ll need that page in my recipe binder anymore. I fed them to 2 unsuspecting friends and they loved them and freaked out even more when I said they were good for them. Not to mention my 3 year old loves them. Too bad my hubby doesn’t like chocolate… I mean, better for me
Thank you!!
Just tried the recipe today…ran out of applesauce and used 1/2 cup pumpkin puree and 1/2 c applesauce instead. Very good! So fudgy…
Nice sub! I’m glad you liked them!
OMG!! I just made these brownies with mushed up overripe bananas instead of applesauce and added a handful of macadamias. Then, I made a brownie sundae by topping one of the brownies with banana soft seve and coconut.
MMMMMM
MamaPea, you are BRILLIANT!!! Thank you for sharing your genius with us out here in blogland!!!
Wow!
Those are some gooood brownies! This just became my one and only brownie recipe, literally.
Just baked a batch and I am delighted, it’s hard to believe they are so much healthier than regular brownies. I used 1/3 cocoa powder + 2/3 chocolate protein powder and reduced the sugar a bit as my protein powder is quite sweet (for my taste anyway), which gave them an extra protein boost.
Amazing, amazing Mama Pea! I think I want to cry of happiness
So awesome that you added protein powder! I love that idea. I’m happy you enjoyed
I can be your orange popsicle friend! And just to top it all off…cherry was always my least favorite!