Fudgy Almond Flour Brownies (GF)

 

Is it possible to make a chewy, fudgy, gooey brownie loaded with chocolate without (wheat) flour and refined sugar? You betcha! And is possible not to eat that entire pan full of brownies? Well...probably not.

I mean, look at these little suckers. They are practically screaming for a glass of milk to wash them down. My husband, my kids and even a few friends have raved about these real ingredient, made-from-scratch brownies. Even the folks who love brownies from a box think these are delicious.

The best part is that you can make the batter for these yummy little squares of chocolaty goodness in a single saucepan. Less dishes = one happy cook! Check out all the wonderful, unprocessed ingredients ~ organic butter, pastured eggs, almond flour, raw honey, pure vanilla extract, semi-sweet chocolate chips and dark cocoa powder.

There are some simple adaptations you can make to these, allowing them to also be dairy-free and paleo friendly. I have some readers who are going to be completely beside themselves to have a yummy brownie that they can actually eat! And really...sometimes you just need a brownie (or 4). Ha ha!

In a medium sized saucepan, start out by melting some chocolate chips, honey and butter on the stove top at a low temperature. Stir in the cocoa powder and blend well. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly before adding in the vanilla and whisking in the two eggs. Then, in the same pan, fold in the almond flour and other dry ingredients. See what I mean? One pan. Be still my heart!

Cut a piece of parchment paper to line the bottom of your 8 x 8 inch pan, letting it overlap the sides. Grease the remaining two sides of the pan and pour in the brownie batter. Sprinkle with a few more chocolate chips.

Bake at 325 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with just a hint of fudgy crumbs. Allow to cool completely. Lift the parchment paper flaps to remove from the pan and cut into 12 squares for serving. Rumor has it that plastic knives are the absolute best tool for cutting brownies cleanly, without all the crumbs. Just try it yourself. Seeing is believing.

I have eaten these up to 3 days after they were baked and they were still completely delicious. Covering them, however, will take away some of that yummy crusty goodness on the top and make them a little more cake-like on days 2 & 3.  Sounds like the perfect opportunity to add some ice cream and eat them a la mode, if you ask me!

That is the face of pure happiness, right there! Jackson is pretty much obsessed with anything chocolate or remotely reminiscent of cake. I am a former cake decorator and his first couple years were filled with the sights and smells of freshly baked cakes that I made and decorated out of my kitchen. He is not picky. Brownies, muffins, cookies...without a doubt, he is his mother's son.

What are you waiting for?! Get baking and then come back and let me know how you like them!

Fudgy Almond Flour Brownies (GF)

1/2 c. raw, unfiltered honey

1/3 c. semi-sweet mini chocolate chips* (plus 1/4 c. for topping)

1 stick of butter, cubed** (1/2 c.)

1/4 c. Dutch-processed cocoa powder

2 t. pure vanilla extract

2 pastured, organic eggs

1 1/4 c. almond flour (For a tutorial on making your own--click HERE.)

1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt (omit if using salted butter)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and prepare an 8 x 8 inch pan (glass or metal) by lining the bottom with parchment paper, leaving a few inches to overlap the sides. Grease the remaining two sides of the pan.

2. In a medium saucepan on low heat, add the honey, chocolate chips and butter pieces. Stir continuously until melted. Add the cocoa powder and mix well. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

3. In the same pan, stir in the vanilla extract and whisk in the two eggs. Fold in the almond flour, baking powder and salt (if using).

4. Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle with a scant 1/4 c. of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional).

5. Bake at 325 degrees for 28-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the brownies comes out mostly clean. There may be a few fudgy crumbs that stick to the toothpick, but it should be fairly clean.

6. Allow to cool completely. Run a knife along the two greased edges of the pan and lift out the brownie slab, firmly holding the edges of the parchment paper. (If you do not allow them to cool all the way before doing this, they will break when you lift them out.) Cut into 12 squares and serve.

*For a Paleo friendly option: Omit chocolate chips and cocoa powder in the batter and use 2 squares of unsweetened baking chocolate (100% cacao) instead. Leave off the chocolate chips on the top and replace the butter with 1/2 c. coconut oil.

**For a dairy-free option: Replace 1/2 c. butter with 1/2 coconut oil.

Want a delicious peanut butter swirl on top? Mix 3 T. natural peanut butter, 1 T. butter and 1 T. honey. Warm on the stove or in the microwave until soft and well mixed. Using a spoon, drizzle 3 lines of PB across the uncooked brownie batter and swirl very lightly with a knife. Sprinkle with 2 T. chocolate chips and bake as directed above.

Adapted from The Nourishing Home

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Parfait

Store-bought yogurt is loaded with added sugar. By sweetening the yogurt yourself, you'll save a ton of calories. The Greek yogurt is low in fat and high in protein. The almonds and strawberries provide a nice dose of fiber and vitamin C. I personally love the crunch that the chocolate chips and almond slivers add to the smooth, creamy yogurt! Enjoy!


1/2 c. plain yogurt--Greek yogurt is thick and wonderful!
1 t. pure maple syrup (optional)
1/4 t. pure vanilla extract
1 c. sliced organic strawberries
2 T. slivered almonds (or try granola instead!)
1 T. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a small bowl combine 1/2 c. yogurt, maple syrup and vanilla extract (or skip the bowl and use the yogurt container instead). Stir well. In a separate serving bowl, add 1/4 c. of the yogurt and top it with 1/2 c. of strawberries, 1 T. of almonds and 1/2 T. of chocolate chips. Layer the remaining 1/4 c. yogurt and finish it off with rest of the strawberries, almonds and chocolate chips.

Grab your spoon and dig in! This is the perfect amount of sweetness for an afternoon snack or summer dessert. I think it would be a delicious breakfast, too! I wish I could say I got to eat this bowlful of yumminess, but unfortunately I had to share most of it with my toddler who declared it, "Mmm...num!"

The Best Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies (GF)

These chocolate chip cookies are insanely good--just ask my husband and my kids! They are slightly chewy, slightly crunchy and have the perfect amount of nutty sweetness. My friend, Emily, has a son who is gluten intolerant and I wanted to make a yummy baked good to take to her house for a playdate. I was trying to come up with something that all of the kids could enjoy. (Side note--one of the little boys who was there from another family had a severe nut allergy. And here I was SO excited about sharing our gluten-free (but super nut filled) cookies with everyone! Can you say "epic fail"? LOL)

I found this recipe online and after trying it out once on my own family, I decided these cookies were not only "good enough" to share with my friend's gluten-free family but were the only chocolate chip cookies I would ever make from here on out! My husband eats them straight from the freezer and had NO idea they weren't "normal" chocolate chip cookies until he saw me making almond flour for the blog post and asked what I used "that" for. Ha ha!! They are full of protein, fiber, healthy fat and are pretty low in added sugar. I have absolutely zero guilt feeding these to my kiddos. I don't make them all the time, however. They are a bit pricier to make due to the almond flour and despite being healthier, they aren't calorie-free and I have very little self-control around baked goods.

In spite of my last comment, you are definitely going to want to make a double or even triple batch of these little gems. The cookies themselves freeze great, or you can freeze the dough "pucks" on a piece of parchment paper and then bake as needed (or in my case, eat the dough right out of the freezer instead of heating up the oven!). These would be a hit at any picnic, playdate or other get-together...so long as no one is allergic to nuts! ;)


Yields about 18 cookies (3" diameter)

• 1/4 cup butter, softened*
• 2 T. coconut oil (refined coconut oil has NO coconut taste and is a healthy replacement for shortening in baked goods)
• 1/3 cup sucanat (dehydrated natural sugar cane) or brown sugar
• 1 t. pure vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 t. baking soda
• 1/4 t. sea salt
• 1 1/2 c. blanched almond flour (Click HERE for tutorial on making your own blanched almond flour--relatively simple and nearly half the price of store-bought.)
• 3/4 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Cream butter, coconut oil and sucanat or brown sugar in a medium mixing bowl by hand or electric mixer. 

2. Add in vanilla and egg and continue to mix until well combined.

3. Stir in baking soda and salt. Add almond flour a half cup at a time until thoroughly blended. 

4. Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts (if using) by hand and drop by rounded tablespoon onto a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet.

5. Flatten cookies slightly with the bottom of a wet glass or measuring cup. Bake at 350 degrees about 9-10 minutes or until edges just begin to lightly brown. Leave on cookie sheet to cool for a few minutes before attempting to remove. Cool completely on a wire rack.

6. Watch them disappear faster than you can get them put in the freezer!

*Substitute coconut oil for the butter if you are dairy-free.

How to Make Blanched Almond Flour--and why!

Almond flour, or almond meal as it is sometimes called, can be made with or without the skins of the almonds and has a texture similar to cornmeal.  Using blanched (skinless) almonds is generally preferred for baked goods. It is slightly sweet and has a mildly, but not overpowering, nutty flavor.

Almond flour is an excellent substitute for wheat flour in things like quick breads, pancakes, muffins and cookies. It is low in net carbs, high in protein and fiber, full of healthy fat and gluten free. When used in a recipe without much refined sugar, almond flour can give you a practically guilt-free treat. It takes about 15 minutes to make and can reduce your cost almost 50% over store-bought almond flour. 

Place blanched almonds (if whole, they may grind more evenly if roughly chopped first) into the bowl of a food processor or Magic Bullet. I did about 4-6 oz. at a time.

Process until you get a course meal, but watch that you don't wind up with almond butter!

Pour the ground almonds into a sifter or fine mesh sieve over a bowl and shake lightly to look for any larger pieces that need to be reprocessed.

These are the pieces I put back in for a second grinding along with my next round of slivered almonds.

Here's what the almond flour looks like when it's finished!

The Bob's Red Mill almond flour on the left is a 16 oz. bag and contains about 3 cups in volume. It is over $8/bag at Kroger. The bulk (blanched) almonds I have priced in various grocery and bulk foods stores have run between $4-5 pound. That's a savings of between 40-50% to make it yourself. You can grind several pounds at a time and freeze the almond flour in order to save time and dirty dishes down the road. 

Here is a yummy almond flour pancake recipe from Kelly over at The Nourishing Home. Click HERE for my family's favorite No-Guilt Chocolate Chip Cookies made with almond flour. My kids love getting a sweet treat and I love that they are getting a hefty portion of protein and fiber! These cookies truly are DELICIOUS--even my husband thinks so. :)