The other day I was craving brownies, so I tried one of those two ingredient box brownie recipes from Pinterest – the kind where you all you need is a box mix and a can of pumpkin. Not only was I left disappointed, but I still wanted brownies. Real brownies.

That’s when I decided to come up with a recipe of my own, but I didn’t want it to have black beans or any other non-dessert ingredients often found in vegan brownie recipes. I wanted to make the perfect homemade brownies that weren’t from a box, easy to make, and also vegan. Simple enough, right?

A couple of batches later, and I’ve finally perfected them. I found using a ripe banana adds the perfect amount of sweetness and also acts as a binder, and the dark chocolate chips up the fudgy factor. They’re simple to make and difficult to mess up – what more can you ask for!

These brownies are decadent and fudgy, but not too dense, and have perfect crispy edges. They’re also vegan and made with whole wheat flour, so you could almost call them healthy, right? If you ask me, they’re the perfect brownie!