One of my favorite readers, Courtney, requested this brownie recipe in a comment last week.
Here is what she said, “Can we have another VOTE?? Every post I am hopeful that I might open it up to find your recipe for scrumptious dark chocolate brownies… I am NEVER disappointed by your posts, but I am still hopeful that I may experience this recipe in the future…”
Now that is just too cute. How could I say no to this sweet request? Courtney lives in Tennessee and I was fortunate enough to meet her at one of my cooking classes here in Boulder, Colorado. She has a great website with all kinds of interesting natural products on it.
Furthermore, this is my older son’s favorite treat. Whenever I ask him what he would like me to bake for him, he says, “brownies.” He loves packing these higher-protein treats in his lunch for dessert.
So, there you have it, everyone! Brownies.
Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 16 ounce jar creamy roasted almond butter
- 2 large eggs
- 1¼ cups honey
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup cacao powder
- ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large bowl, blend almond butter until smooth with a hand blender
- Blend in eggs, then blend in honey and vanilla
- Blend in cacao, salt and baking soda, then fold in chocolate chips
- Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish
- Pour batter into dish
- Bake at 325°F for 30-40 minutes
Last spring, I discovered this great Peanut Butter Bar recipe from celiacchicks.com which gave me the idea to make treats out of nut butters. When I coached my son’s little league team, I brought either these nourishing brownies, or Almond Butter Blondies to just about every baseball game.
I recently discovered a fun website called Flavorista.com. Low and behold, I checked it out this morning and saw a fantastic write up on gluten-free by the site’s author, Barr. What I liked best about her take on this timely topic, is that she is one of the few mainstream chefs to offer an “outsider’s” perspective on the world of gluten-free. Very refreshing, witty and informative. Thanks Barr!
gayle says
Made these brownies last night and received rave reviews. Unfortunately i am now told i can no longer tell everyone how good they are for you so i will try to secretly contain this information! This is the best brownie recipe i have ever tried (and i have absolutely no reason in my family to go gluten-free!!!) Thank you Elana!
Edna says
I can’t believe how fluffy these brownies turned out!!!! My boys loved them–Of course I didn’t tell them they were gluten free and made out of almond butter. I don’t like things too sweet so I cut the agave in half and they were still so delicious! Thank you for sharing this scrumptious recipe!!!
Charlotte says
I just made these, and they’re great! I’ve loved all the GAPS desserts since I started the diet, but my family thinks most of them are worthless compared to “real” desserts. I served these to my parents, siblings, kids and husband tonight, and every single person liked them! They all say you’d never know they’re flourless. I used 1 cup honey to sweeten them, and peanut butter (didn’t have almond butter on hand), and they’re fabulous. So filling, unlike normal desserts that leave you craving more. Hooray for good brownies!
Melanie says
This recipe is hands-down the most delicious brownie recipe I have ever found. Even friends and family who don’t follow gluten-free diets agree.
Melissa says
Hi,
I have made these a bunch of times back in the US and they came out fluffy and cake like. I am now living in South Africa and have tried the recipe twice and the brownies are coming out more gooey and more like mud i guess! Still tasting yummy but not as good.
The only thing I haven’t been using is the almond butter. Haven’t seen it in many stores so I have been using a mix of peanut and sun flower seed butters. I also don’t use as much agave nectar and add a little bit of coconut oil. Do you think that’s what’s making the difference?
Melissa
colormepink says
Melissa,
Between the 2 nut butters and the added coconut oil, it sounds like there’s too much oil, making your batter very heavy. I would either omit the added coconut oil or add another egg or two to balance it out. That should help.
Esther Anders says
These were awesome! I just made them and I loved them. They didn’t taste at all like almonds and were just as good as the Triple fudge brownies I use to buy for $3. a box. I can’t eat many almonds due to my daughter nursing, she can’t handle them yet. :( But they are going to be made around here often, and great Christmas presents.
I made my own almond butter too, by just roasting the almonds for 8 min. in the oven at 325. Then pureeing them in my magic bullet (tried the ninja too, either can be used, if you don’t have a processor)to peanut butter consistency and then add a little salt.
We had our neighbor try try them and she couldn’t believe we used almonds, instead of flour. Thank you so much Elana for coming up with these amazing desserts. We don’t have to eat gluten free, but we have chosen to eat as close as we can, do to wanting to get healthy and loose some weight (due to having three kids). You’re recipes are so good we only think we’re cheating! Thanks!
payal says
hi love your website this is great.. was wondering if you could post some vegan brownie recipe..pls thanks
Andrea says
I made these tonight with a new brownie pan I got for my birthday…the Bakers Edge Brownie Pan…all the brownies have edges…oh my! I used only 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and added 1/2 cup chopped walnuts…fabulous! I could eat the whole pan!!!! Thanks so much for this recipe!
dm says
These brownies are absolutely delicious and amazing, given the absence of flour. But, I recently gave up eggs — has anyone tried making them with egg substitute, like the flax/water combo?
~M says
Here is a vegan brownie recipe from Spunky Coconut, which also contains almond butter: http://www.thespunkycoconut.com/2009/09/egg-free-grain-free-brownies.html
Janet says
Technically speaking the recipe on Spunky Coconut isn’t vegan as it uses honey and vegans won’t eat honey (because it exploits bees). But you could substitute agave nectar for the honey.
Yulia W says
Dear Elana,
Absolutely fantastic brownies! Just made them with my son to take with us to the party.
What I especially like about your recipes (so far I used 3 of them), that they come out perfect for me: no need for time/temperature/proportions adjustments – they work great!
I’m looking forward to trying more recipes from your site (just received my almond flour per your recommendation).