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Where can I buy Dark Matters brownies?

Close Up Selection of Dark Matters Vegan Brownies

Wondering where you can buy Dark Matters brownies? Of course you know you can order them them right here in our online shop. You can also pop along to any of our events and markets to get your fix in person!

But did you know we’ve also got a lovely list of stockists? Here’s a quick rundown of some of the places you can get your mitts on our brownies IRL…

SHOPS & STOCKISTS

Black Cactus Cafe [Blandford, Dorset]
A lovely independent cafe in Blandford serving killer toasties and bangin’ brownies.

Flipside Plant-Based Food [Farringdon, East London]
Plantbased burgers, fries, shakes, salads – and brownies! 

Food By Sumear [Bristol/Online]
Vegan cheese crafted by a total pro – Sumear makes and sells amazing vegan cheese, plus a few other tasty treats. 

Just Desserts [Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset]
Eat in or take away – or get it delivered! Just Desserts sells a whole range of sweet treats. 

Lunch’d [Dorset local delivery]
Tasty, healthy food delivered locally in Dorset. Get lunch delivered, and whack a brownie on your order while you’re at it!

Margheritas [Deal, Kent]
An Italian deli, restaurant and bar with tonnes of tasty plant based options.

Plant Power Vegan Cafe [Plymouth, Devon]
100% vegan-owned, independent cafe in Plymouth city centre. A gorgeous family-run cafe serving tea, coffee, cakes, sandwiches and, of course, brownies.

Scoop Wholefoods [Bristol & Bath branches]
A zero waste shop selling amazing things for your belly and doing amazing things for our planet.

South West Coast Refills [Weymouth, Dorset]
Another fantastic refill shop, promoting zero waste and wonderful, eco friendly products! 

Storm in a Teacup Coffeehouse [Swansea Market, Wales]
“Providers of great social lubricants” and Dark Matters brownies! Find them nestled in Swansea Market.

Vegan Vend [Various Locations,  Bristol]
Vegan vending machines! These beauties are dotted around Bristol, stocked full of tasty vegan food.

Wild Thyme [Southsea, Hampshire]
Wholesome, healthy goodness in the heart of Southsea. Get your wholefoods (and brownies) in the shop, or you can order for local delivery.



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How long do vegan brownies last?

Overhead Shot of Vegan Raspberry Chocolate Brownies and Double Choc Cacao Brownies with Figs

If you’ve bought your Dark Matters vegan brownies you might be wondering how long they will keep. Firstly, let us applaud your self control. Personally, I get a brownie and it lasts minutes. But maybe you’ve bought a bigger box, or maybe you’re buying for an occasion and want to make sure they’ll last.

We bake all of our brownies fresh. If you’re buying from a market they will have been baked 1-2 days beforehand. We bake all of our website orders as we process them. We don’t have shelves full of brownies sitting around going stale waiting to be picked, packed and delivered. So when your brownie arrives, it’s as fresh and fudgy as it can possibly be!

Vegan brownies shelf life

If you place an order online, we’ll bake your brownies fresh and send them via DHL courier. Once dispatched they’ll arrive within one to two days, and will then keep for five to seven days, depending on how they are stored.

If you’re buying your brownies at our markets, this is also the case. Your brownies will have a five to seven day shelf life depending on the conditions they’re kept in.

How do I store my vegan brownies?

You can extend the shelf life of your brownies by keeping them in an airtight container in the fridge.

Extend the shelf life even further by popping them in the freezer! All of our brownies are freezer friendly, so you can keep a steady supply on ice.

How long do vegan brownies keep in the freezer?

Maybe this is just me, but if you keep your brownies in the freezer it’s pretty likely that you’ll eat them way before they have a chance to go off. You can keep your brownies in the freezer for up to three months, but the longer they’re in there, the more risk there is for them to lose a bit of flavour. After this they’re defo still safe to eat, but give them a zap in the microwave and douse in custard or ice cream to make the most of them.

Contact us

If you’re ordering online for a special occasion or a specific date a little while away – feel free to get in touch! We can discuss dates with you to ensure your brownies are arriving as fresh as possible.



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What makes Dark Matters brownies different?

Dark Matters Vegan Brownie Gift Box

We know ordering online can be tricky – you never know what you’re really going to get until it arrives. We can go on about how chocolatey and moist and squidgy and fudgy and DELICIOUS our brownies are – because they are ?

But you probably want to know what makes Dark Matters brownies different to all the other brownies out there.

So let us fill you in…

VEGAN MATTERS

Just over five years ago Gemma made the transition from an eggs & milk bakery to a fully vegan bakery that was having none of it.

Dark Matters was picking up speed. As her shopping list was getting bigger, Gemma took it upon herself to do a bit of research. And did not like what she found.

So Gemma developed her own vegan recipes and hasn’t looked back.

We often get asked “Do they taste vegan?” and they honest answer is: they taste chocolatey and moist and squidgy and fudgy and DELICIOUS. And a lot of our repeat customers aren’t vegan, so we take that as a compliment!

Want to delve into our vegan background in a bit more depth? You can read this blog post to find out more.

CHOCOLATE MATTERS

Dark chocolate is at the heart of everything we do. Specifically, organic 70% fair trade dark chocolate. It is the first and main ingredient in all of our brownies.

Most brownie recipes are heavy in sugar, flour and cocoa powder. So they need wet ingredients to bind them together. Most of the wet ingredients are animal based (eggs and milk) or contain palm oil. That’s a BIG NO THANKS from us.

Dark chocolate helps bind the brownie batter while adding a generous helping of rich, tasty chocolate flavour.

With Gemma’s skilful baking, she’s managed to vary her offerings. So there’s something for everyone – even if milk chocolate is more your thing. Our Purist is the darkest tasting – more like a dark truffle flavour and texture. Whereas the Salted Caramel and Brookies contain extra sweetness from the additions of caramels and cookie dough.

ETHICAL MATTERS

A lot of effort goes into making sure we’re making the most ethical choices we can. That means zero palm oil, zero plastic and zero waste – amongst other things.

I briefly mentioned the palm oil thing above – Dark Matters is proudly palm oil free. That means zero palm oil margarine and zero flavours containing palm oil. Sorry not sorry Oreo fans.

We don’t use any plastic in our packaging – it’s all recyclable and/or biodegradable. We also encourage customers visiting us at markets to bring their own box or bag – you’ll get 50p off your total if you do!

Gemma is a stickler for waste, and is rightly proud to have NEVER binned any excess! Every product and ingredient gets used, sold and eaten.

We bake all of your orders fresh, so you get deliciously fresh brownies AND we don’t have anything sitting around going out of date waiting to be binned. This is also one of the reasons the brownies we sell online are sold in batches of six or 12. So we can make sure everything we bake is going to a good home.

SIZE MATTERS

Have you noticed how CHUNKY these brownies are?!

Dark Matters brownies are NOT letterbox friendly. You need to be in to accept this order because they’re not little slithers that will slot through your post box. They are just too big and chunky for that.

You get a whole lot of bang for your buck. We’re pretttty confident that in a size-off against other brownies on the market, Dark Matters will win every time



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Our first events and markets for 2022!

Gemma at Dark Matters markets

? Time to dust off the gothzebo, here’s a list of our first events and markets for 2022! ?⁣

☆ Thursday 17th February 2022, Sustainable Food Week @ Bath University – BATH

☆ Sunday 20th February 2022, Newbury Vegan Market – NEWBURY
10am-3pm, 17 Market Place, Newbury, RG14 5AA

☆ Thursday 24th February 2022, Temple Quay Market – BRISTOL
12pm-2pm, Temple Quay, Bristol, BS1

☆ Friday 25th February 2022, Finzels Reach Food Market – BRISTOL
11am-2pm, Old Temple Street, Finzels Reach, Bristol, BS1 6BX

☆ Sunday 27th February 2022, LOVE SUX Alternative Art Market by @ghoulgangcollective – BRISTOL
11am-5pm, 3 New Bridewell, Nelson St, Bristol BS1 2QD

☆ Sunday 6th March 2022, Frome Independent Market
10am-3pm, Frome town centre

☆ Saturday 12th March 2022, Glasgow Vegan Festival – GLASGOW – Road trip! ?
10.30am-4.30pm, Hampden Park, Glasgow, G42 9BA

Can’t wait to be back slinging B’s at your face! ?⁣

✴ This is what we’ve got booked in until the end of March so far, but markets and events are always being confirmed and added so keep checking back! ?

?Where you at? Are we headed near you soon?? ? Get in touch and let us know where you are and maybe we’ll swing by your way soon!

Can’t wait to be back out but don’t miss the early starts AT. ALL. It’ll be fiiiine!

See you soon! Gx



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Vegan Gifts Under £20

Close Up of Vegan Dark Matters Brownies on Wire Rack

Here at Dark Matters, we’ve got something for every taste, appetite and budget. So we’ve put together a list of our top vegan gifts for under £20.

Our top picks for less than £20

Spoil someone (or yourself!) with Dark Matters Classic Baker’s Choice Vegan Brownie Selection Box. We’ve put together a delicious brownie selection box with our decadent dark delights, certain to woo any recipient.
Who doesn’t love a fat bag of choccy buttons? I know we’re all about the dark stuff, but there’s something about tucking into chocolate buttons (vegan obv) that takes us back to being a kid!
A perfect combination of choc orange, marmalade and slivers of delicious candied peel, we think this grown up brownie gives a new dimension to the idea of ‘chocolate orange’. Our vegan Choc Orange brownie is best enjoyed with a cup of tea and a good book while you’re sheltering from the rain.
Our Brookies have been firm fan faves since developing our first vegan and palm oil free recipe back in 2018, and we know why; our trademark 70% dark chocolate brownie pairs perfectly with our homemade sweet and chewy cookie base.
Our take on the French ‘apres ski’ Chocolat Chaud, our instructions will help you make the perfect cup in no time, but can be made exactly to your taste by adjusting the ratio of chocolate to milk.
These sumptuous caramel truffle circles are made from our OG Salted Caramel Brownie, combined with EVEN MORE homemade vegan Salted Caramel and our special vegan Ganache, finally dipped and finished in a coat of crisp tempered Dark Chocolate. One is just not enough… Yes they are that good.

You can shop our entire range of vegan gifts for less than £20 by clicking here. In fact all of our products have the option to choose something under £20. There are different size options for every appetite and budget!

Vegan Gifts Under £10

If you’re looking for something at a slightly lower price point – we’ve got you covered! Check out what we’ve got on offer in our ‘Vegan gifts under £10’ section.



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Valentine’s Day Emo Vegan Brownie Box: Miserable At Best…

Dark Matters Anti-Valentines Anti-Matter Valentine's Day Emo Special Box

So Here We Are. It’s nearly Valentine’s Day, Everything Sux and you don’t want to buy Roses For The Dead for another year running. Well, You’re Not Alone.

We’ve Had Enough of basic clichés too, so we’ve developed an Emo Valentine’s Day Special Edition Box. It’s Miserable At Best.

Note To Self – send one of these vegan brownie boxes to my Beating Heart Baby.

ANTI-VALENTINES BOX INCLUDES: [with reference links for the uninitiated… but don’t worry, the box is designed to be delicious first and dorky second, so everyone will enjoy it!?]

Brownie Heart Special includes:

?Valentines Exclusive: BLEEDING HEARTS, BABY
Raspberry Double Stack Brownie Heart with ‘bleeding’ Raspberry Jam and Raspberry Chocolate Ganache Centre (GF)
in spite of you, even out of view, still I love all of you, i do, yeah

?Brookie: ROSES FOR THE DEAD
Delicate Rose Turkish Delight Brownie with Crisp & Chewy Almond Vanilla Cookie Base
wasting the hours now, we’re all suckers for tragedies

?Brownie: I’M NUT OKAY (I PROMISE) – My Caramel Romance
Hazelnut Praline Brownie with Coconut Cream Dulce de Leche Puddles (GF)
remember when you broke your foot from jumping out the second floor?

?Bath Bomb: BLACK PARADE
Peony Scented Emo AF Vegan Bath Bomb by the gorgeous Dirty Fresh Cosmetics (thanks Bekkah & Big Joe!)
do or die, you’ll never make me, because the world will never take my heart

?Sticker: EMO FOREVER (lucky dip one of four designs)
Do you too like your parades black and your business miserable? Forever Emo is here for you!

?Print:
Bespoke Emo Flavoured Print by our best ghoul, Goody <3

?Spotify Playlist
Dedicated Dark Matters Emo Bangerz Playlist to relive your youth and ruin your parties </3 (it’s collaborative so add any we missed!)

I Don’t Wanna Be An Asshole Anymore so At The Bottom Of Everything you’ll find this emo inspired Dirty Little Secret in our online shop. Stop going In Circles and click here to order yours.

We know sometimes The Past Should Stay Dead, so if you’re not Love Drunk, forget about your Ex’s and Oh’s and order this for the Only One (you).

Dear Maria, Count Me In.

If you’d like a personalised message included let us know on the checkout’s comments box.

? Everything is 100% vegan, always ?

Signing off my Letters To You – Emily x



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Five Years Vegan: Happy Veganniversary To Us!

Gemma and Roy the Pig lying in a field at Deans Farm Trust Charity Farm

TL;DR CAPITALIST FRIENDLY VERSION: We went vegan five years ago and still have a business. WOOHOO! Celebrate by exchanging some money for discounted brownies: get 20% off when you order online with offer code VEGANUARY20 til 31st January.

Happy Veganniversary to us!

It’s Dark Matters’ 5th Veganniversary! January 2017 I finally finished the transition from being a milk ‘n’ eggs bakery, to being 100% vegan. I spent almost two years testing, researching and slowly (and secretly) moving more products over to vegan versions. It’s one of the scariest business decisions I’ve ever had to make, but also the easiest Cos if I hadn’t, or it didn’t work out, Dark Matters would be no more.
So here’s to still being here and busier than ever 5 years later!

When we started in 2013, having a business that only sold brownies was uncommon. In fact, I think we were one of the first ‘just brownies’ businesses in the country?? So making the business even more niche just wasn’t on my radar. It was hard enough trying to get people to understand why I was just selling brownies. I remember during my first market someone asking if they were bread-pudding :’)

As our events started picking up and I was baking more and more, I very quickly realised that our consumption of ingredients was quickly increasing. First doubling, then tripling, and it was clear that this was only going to increase. Anybody who watches our Stories has probably picked up on the fact that I’m a bit of an overthinker. So this weighed on my mind – particularly the amount of eggs I was getting through.

I was a meat eater and dairy consumer at the time, and always had been. But something about both industries always sat uncomfortably with me. It left me feeling weird/guilty/icky, but I wasn’t sure why. I figured if I was going on a path where as a business I’d be actively participating in funding these industries, it was my responsibility to know exactly where every single ingredient came from.

I had to ask all the awkward questions so I could look customers in the eye each week at markets and tell them about how ace our products are. So that’s what I did!

AND. IT. WAS. HARD.

Oooooh boy.

Awkward questions are awkward.

Especially when you’re asking them to lovely friendly egg farmers you know from lovely friendly Dorset markets. And they’ve been doing those lovely friendly markets for decades and they’ve only just started accepting me into their crowd, as a young whippersnapper. ‘And now she’s asking WHAT??’

Honestly I’m getting second hand cringe now. But it had to be done.

Without going into the nitty gritty, as soon as I found out…

a) that cows need to be/have been pregnant in order to produce milk, and
b) what happens to male chicks when they’ve been hatched (because they can’t produce eggs)

…that was it.

I went to VegFest Brighton in Spring 2015 and met up with a couple of super people I knew from markets in Bournemouth, and immersed myself in KNOWING ALL THE THINGS. Honestly, if you’ve seen the film A Clockwork Orange you’ll know what I’m talking about. It was painful, and I went in with a logical and rational brain, but I basically went vegan overnight.

It took another 2 years of me figuring out what the eff I was going to feed myself, and what the eff I was going to make my brownies out of. By this point, brownies were my only source of income and the main ingredients were now unavailable to me.

I wanted to finally transition to being a 100% vegan owned, 100% vegan business, and make our dEbUt at Vegan Life Live January 2017. It was tough, but I did it!

There were a lot of mistakes (why does nobody tell you that salt and vinegar crisps have milk in them??). There were some very, VERY dodgy recipes (thank you customers who were kind enough to say you could taste chickpeas when I was testing aquafaba). But I’m pretty bloody pleased with how I did, and today I am so proud to be a part of the small vegan business community.

And look what we’ve done!

It’s mind blowing to see vegan products E V E R Y W H E R E now. Especially in January, and all the Big Boi corporations frothing at the mouth for our ‘green pounds’. And whilst I’m not going to rush to try out whatever vegan menu MaccyDs are churning out, I still think that if they’re making room for vegan products on their menu, then that’s less room for animal products, which hopefully means fewer animals being harmed.

When people seeing vegan food alongside ‘regular’ food, it normalises it. And so those people who always felt ‘a bit icky’ about animal products will find it easier to just decide they don’t want to eat food that makes them feel weird, low-level guilt. So hopefully they’ll make the switch. And this will increase demand. And so on and so forth.

I’m absolutely chuffed to bits that I not only still have a business, but one that is growing exponentially! Which I don’t think would’ve happened if I wasn’t able to stand by my products and feel 100% confident that every single ingredient we buy is the best.

That means every Dark Matters ingredient is the most ethical, environmentally friendly, cruelty free, fairly traded, palm oil free and organic/gmo free ingredient I can source at that time. Everybody makes mistakes, and we aren’t perfect by ANY stretch, but the integrity is there, and we’re totally committed to being the greenest, ethical, vegan business we can be. We are constantly looking at ways to improve the way we operate and minimise our environmental impact, for the sake of our planet and every being on it. Captain Planet OUT.

-Gem



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Sod January, eat brownies. Vegan brownies by post!

Dark Matters Vegan Brownie Gift Box

Use the discount code VEGANUARY20 for 20% off in our online shop for the rest of Veganuary 2022! Just a little Veganuary motivation for you…

To stay up to date with the latest updates, offers and discounts from Dark Matters, sign up to our newsletter at the bottom of this post!

Vegan brownies by post

Christmas is over, New Year’s Eve sort of came and went in a weird, semi-locked down kinda way. Maybe you celebrated, maybe you stayed home hiding away from it all. Either way, I’m guessing we could all use a little pick me up right now. Here it is: it’s Veganuary, and the perfect excuse to order vegan brownies by post

Our little bakery (Gemma) is taking a well deserved break after the madness that was Christmas / 2021 / 2020 / life. But she’s preparing the mixer, firing up the oven and getting ready to bake the best vegan brownies in Bristol / the UK / the WORLD.

Order online now

We will be processing orders from 19th January 2022 when we return from a well earned break. However, you can get your orders in now. You can order online for delivery and get to the head of the queue – just take a mooch round our online shop by clicking here.

Vegan brownie delivery doesn’t get much better than this. Check out our Baker’s Choice selection box. ‘Baker’s Choice’ means best sellers! We’ve put together a delicious brownie selection box with our decadent dark delights, certain to woo any recipient.

Vegan gifts under £10

If you’re brownie shopping on a budget this time of year we’ve got some goodies for you. We’ve got lots of yummy goodies for less than £10 so you can still get your choccy fix.

Truffle Balls – Salted Caramel or Raspberry.

We take your fave salted caramel or raspberry brownie, add a bunch more delicious flavour in either raspberry or caramel form. Then we dip it in perfectly tempered chocolate, to give it an irresistible chocolate snap when you bite into it. Et voila! Chunky bites of brownie ball goodness. You can order a bag of five for just £6.

If we’re going to indulge, let’s go all the way here. Why not wash it all down with a rich, dark mug of luxury vegan hot chocolate and marshmallows? A 250g bag is just £7 and comes with a generous helping of Dandies vegan marshmallows.



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Veganuary: 4 reasons to try going vegan

Veganuary Logo

Use the discount code VEGANUARY20 for 20% off in our online shop for the rest of Veganuary 2022! Just a little Veganuary motivation for you…

To stay up to date with the latest updates, offers and discounts from Dark Matters, sign up to our newsletter at the bottom of this post!

What is Veganuary?

Veganuary is an opportunity for anyone and everyone to try out veganism for the month of January. It’s a 31 day challenge that invites people to cut out all animal products for the first month of the year.

That means no meat, dairy, or any product that has been created using animal products for a whole month. Don’t worry, it’s soooo much easier than you might think. And you can still eat brownies.

What’s the point of Veganuary?

You might think go hard or go home – just go vegan and get on with it! But veganism can be a big decision for a lot of people, so Veganuary can give that motivation to give it a go. It’s a great opportunity to get a little push to test the vegan waters.

Hopefully each year more and more people will get involved, learn about the huge impact veganism can have, and stick with the vegan lifestyle.

Why go vegan?

Everyone has their own reasons, but from our perspective there are four main reasons to shout about…

Go vegan for the ENVIRONMENT

Changing your diet can be the easiest and most effective way to combat climate change. Switching to a plant based diet “could reduce an individual’s carbon footprint from food by up to 73 per cent”.

Go vegan for ANIMALS

Ethically speaking this is a fairly straightforward one, no? Going vegan means your lifestyle won’t be contributing to animal cruelty and the death and torture of animals. Simple.

Animal Aid have got a great article, here, which explains how even “high welfare” farms are part of the problem.

Go vegan for HEALTH

A vegan diet generally includes a lot of fruit and vegetables – this can’t be bad for your health. Foods like red meat and cheese contain a lot of saturated fat. By eliminating these foods, a vegan diet can contribute to lower cholesterol and blood pressure.

Of course a balanced diet is important no matter whether you’re vegan or not. That’s not to say you can’t treat yourself to the odd  brownie every now and then!

Go vegan for FUN

Finding new products, trying out new recipes, experimenting with ingredients you might not have tried before. It’s fun, it’s delicious and with more and more vegan products on the market every day, it’s actually pretty easy!



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Our vegan brownie web shop is OPEN for orders…

Dark Matters Vegan Brownie Gift Box

…but please be aware that any orders we receive from 22.12.21 will be fulfilled from 19.01.22. We’re taking a well earned break after all the festive madness! But we will process, bake and ship your orders when we return from 19th January 2022.

Order updates

If you’re placing an order you will receive email confirmation that we’ve received your order. We use DHL tracked shipping for our website orders, so when your order has been dispatched in January, you’ll hear from them too.

Once your order has been shipped from 19th January, DHL will send you an email with dispatch and tracking information. Keep your eyes on your inbox for delivery updates.

If you have any queries, please just email and we’ll be happy to help!

Veganuary

If you’re taking part in Veganuary and looking for vegan brownie delivery, you can still get your Dark Matters brownie fix.

Place your order now, and you’ll still get a good week or two to indulge in a selection of our dairy-free vegan friendly treats for the second half of Veganuary.

Order online

Browse our online shop to find all your plant based favourites, and hopefully a few new treats for you to try! If you’re looking for something nutty, fruity, dark, dense, fudgy – I’m pretty sure we’ve got most bases covered. We’ve got brownies, we’ve got brownie truffle balls, we’ve got hot chocolate with marshmallows – and it’s all vegan!

Reviews

If you’re looking for the best plant based brownies, Dark Matters is where it’s at! Then again, we would say that… So don’t just take our word for it. Have a read of some of our customer reviews, like this one:

“These brownies are glorious and absolutely HUGE, even managed to put some in the freezer for later! The best brownies I’ve had since going vegan… and as good (if not better) than their non-vegan counterparts.”

Enough said.