Brownie Bites

I needed something easy and portable that I can take to my friend's New Years Eve Party tomorrow night, and who doesn't love brownies? I thought cutting them into (big) bite sized squares and sprinkling them with powdered sugar would be the perfect thing to bring to a party.
The problem I always have with vegan brownies is the lack of moisture. For some reason mine used to always turn out dry and a little crumbly. But not with peanut butter and maple syrup! They came out beautifully moist and fudgey...I only know this because I may have sampled one, or two. Shh!

* 1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
* 1 ½ cups white sugar
* ½ cup plus 1 T. pure unsweetened cocoa powder
* ¾ t. baking powder
* ¾ t. salt
* ½ cup maple syrup
* 1/2 cup peanut butter
* ¾ cup canola or vegetable oil
* ½ t. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour 9” square cake pan and set aside.

Mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. In a seperate small bowl, blend together the maple syrup, peanut butter, canola oil and vanilla. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until combined.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes. I took the brownies out a little early, because I prefer gooey fudgey brownies, even the toothpick I poked it with didn't come out clean. But trust me, once they completely cool they firm up a lot, so don't over bake them!! No one wants a dry crusty brownie. Let the brownies cool completely on a wire cooling rack before turning out on a cutting board. Slice brownies into 1" squares, dust with powdered sugar.