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!
Susie says
Mine are not firming up. I’ve cooked them for 45 mins.
Elana says
Susie, this usually happens when an egg-replacer is used instead of real eggs :-)
Christine says
So i realized that i bought unsalted almond butterHow much extra salt should i add to the recipe?
Elana says
Christine, I haven’t tried that so not sure :-)
Christine says
Delicious! Decadent, fudgy, rich…and that hint of sea salt-BOMB!!
Elana says
Christine, thanks for letting me know this is decadent and delicious!
Katie says
These are my favorite brownies, paleo or not!!
Elana says
Katie, thanks for letting me know these are your favorite brownies, paleo or not!
Kim says
These brownies are FANTASTIC! I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve made them and every time I do, everyone LOVES them. I have given this recipe out every time I’ve made them. No one can believe they are grain free. I only use a 1/2 cup of honey when I make them and no one has every complained that they are not sweet enough. These disappear faster than any thing I’ve ever seen…which is a good thing so I don’t eat them all!
Elana says
Kim, thanks for letting me know these brownies are FANTASTIC and that no one can believe they are grain-free!
Lior says
LOVE these brownies, and so do everyone who ever tried them, GF, Paleo, or just any brownies lovers!
I do change the honey with maple syrup, and use between 1/2 cup to 1 cup at most, depending if making them for supper-sweet lovers or more moderate sweet lovers.
Also, instead of the traditional chocolate chips (not sure which you are using), I chop up chocolate bars to fill up the cup, using semi sweet for children and extra sweet lovers, and 100% chocolate for the rest.
Something else that I do, when citrus is in season, is use 1/2 cup maple + 3/4 cup of citrus (fresh squeezed, of whatever we have: orange, lemon ; orange, grapefruit, lime, etc’, always combining something to lemon or lime) juice and grate an amount of 3 small oranges and one lemon, Or half grapefruit, one orange and one lemon. Chocolate chips is the same way as above – depending on recipients sweet tooth.
I want to also say that these new website pages are looking great, and are much easier to navigate through, so thank you for everything!
Elana says
Lior, thanks so much for sharing all of your amazing ways to make these brownies and I’m so glad to hear you are enjoying the new website design!
Bronwyn READING says
These are the best gluten free brownies. I sub unroasted cashew butter cause I think it’s milder. Everything else is as directed. If I make a half batch then I bake it for 20min. Thanks Elana, yet another foolproof, delicious recipe!
Elana says
Bronwyn, thanks for letting me know these are the best gluten free brownies!!!
Terry says
I love, love, love these brownies! They are my favorite gluten free brownie. I do make a few changes: I use cashew butter in place of the almond butter; I use equal amounts of coconut sugar/Erythritol for the honey and then add 3-4 tablespoons of strong coffee to add some moisture back in. They are so good!
Elana says
Terry, thanks for letting me know you love, love, love these brownies and that they are your favorite gluten-free brownie!!!
Anna says
I’m looking to make them sugar free. Do you think it would work with just Swerve sweetener?
Elana says
Anna, here’s a sugar-free brownie recipe for you:
https://elanaspantry.com/keto-brownies/
Enjoy!
Elana
Kate says
Hello Elana,
Friends brought your brownies to a women’s gathering the other night and we were all gaga over them. My question is that in Ayurveda it is said never to bake with honey since it becomes slightly toxic when heated. What is your view on this subject and what could I use to substitute honey in your recipes?
Thanks for your beautiful contributions!
Elana says
Kate, that’s a great point! When I took my 3 year Ayurvedic training in the early 1990’s we were taught not to heat honey. Feel free to experiment with a substitute and for more information on substitutions please refer to the fourth paragraph of this post:
https://elanaspantry.com/answering-questions-from-readers/
And here’s a brownie recipe for you that doesn’t have honey:
https://elanaspantry.com/paleo-brownies/
I’m so happy to hear that your women’s gathering went gaga over the brownies!
Elana
Debbie says
We used maple syrup instead of honey and substituted carob for the chocolate! They were awesome! Plus, they freeze great! I can’t tell the difference in the ones left out and the defrosted. A great brownie!!!!
Elana says
Debbie, thanks so much for letting me know these are awesome!
Christine E Harrelson says
I’ve heard of that idea but there’s been quite a few people set out to see if it’s true or not. Heating honey over a certain point will destroy many of the benefits, but that doesn’t automatically make it toxic (just probably more like sugar, but not quite like white refined sugar). It has to go over 140 degrees – so honey in tea loses some benefits. But when you’re baking, even t hough the oven itself is let’s say at 350, the food itself never hits that temperature. Just some food for thought:
Elana says
Thanks Christine!
Therese says
I make these exactly as written, except I substitute raw agave instead of honey, same amount. Delicious! I have made them also exactly as written with honey, and I really can’t say which is better. They are equally as moist, maybe a slightly different flavor, but I honestly can’t say which I prefer. My son can’t tell the difference. These are by far the best brownies I have ever made from scratch, including those with tons of sugar and gluten! Oh, the chocolate chips we use are the Lily’s dark chocolate chips sweetened with Stevia.
Elana says
Therese, thanks so much for letting me know these are by far the best brownies you’ve EVER made!
Evelyn says
They sound amazing. Can they be frozen and defrosted to serve?
Elana says
Evelyn, I haven’t tried that so not sure :-)
Callie Kearns says
I freeze mine all the time.they freeze well