Vegan Brownies:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and line an 8×8″ pan with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, add in the melted vegan butter or coconut oil and coconut sugar. Stir with a spoon until the mixture is completely combined.
3. Add in the applesauce, dairy free milk, and vanilla, stirring again until combined.
4. Sift in the flour, cacao powder, and baking powder, and use a rubber spatula to gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Be sure not to over-mix- the batter should be just mixed. 
5. Fold in the chocolate chips until evenly distributed (being careful not to over-mix).
6. Pour the batter into the pan and spread the brownie batter to touch the edges of the pan.

Peanut Butter Swirl

1. In a large bowl, add in all of the peanut butter swirl ingredients.
2. Using a hand mixer, beat the ingredients together until it’s a thick peanut butter cream.
3. Pour a few dollops of peanut butter swirl on top of your brownies. Using a knife, carefully swirl the peanut butter cream into the brownies. Don’t over mix, as this will not be swirled then. Less is more.
4. You may have extra peanut butter cream left over. If so, you can store this in the fridge for a week, and add as an additional topping onto the brownies or over paleo vegan ice cream!
5. Place the pan into the oven and bake for 20-22 minutes, or until the toothpick comes out clean. If you bake these brownies longer, they will be more cake-y than fudgy.
6. Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes in the pan to cool. 
7. Slice and serve! Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days.