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!








Wendy says
Hi Elana. First of all, I love your recipes and their simplicity! Thanks so much for sharing them with us. I made these brownies this weekend for a friend who is Diabetic. I modified the recipe to make them sugar free. I made my own chocolate chunks by melting two unsweetened 4 oz chocolate bars and adding about a half of cup of agave. I poured it into a parchment lined pan and put it in the freezer. Then I broke it up into chunks and added it to the brownies. They turned out amazing and everyone was impressed! Just thought other sugar free people might want to know. Thanks again!
Lorain says
Just made these…..omg….so yummy..
I used maple syrup instead of agave with fabulous results!! I halved the recipe and baked in a 9×9 pyrex pan at 325 for 25 min..and they are perfect.
With no chocolate chips the nutritional breakdown is (assuming 16 Brownies for the half batch)
Cal: 116
Fat: 7.4g
Protein: 3.25
Carb: 10
this will be different if you chose to use the agave.
Lorain says
me again….bake them a little longer than my original post…35 min for the half batch…turned out even better, the first batch was fudgey..
Mystique says
Would you happen to have the nutritional value of this recipe? I’m on WW and would like to know how many points this contains.
Elana Maya says
These brownies are beyond terrific!!! I made them exactly as you posted and I just can’t get over how insanely delicious they are! What a brilliant recipe! Thank you so much for sharing.
Laura@familyspice.com says
This recipe satisfies my chocolate cravings in a healthy way. THANK YOU ELANA! I have made this recipe several times. I have had everyone try it, from kids to grandmothers and they can’t believe there is no flour and is low in sugar. One time I coarsely chopped up dark chocolate disks since I was out of chips. I suppose they are to be melted down for candies. I was thrilled with the result: big chunks of chocolate gooey goodness. I will continue to rave about your recipes for my friends, family and readers. Good luck with your cookbook. I can’t wait to see it in the stores!
Carrie says
Wow! A fellow GF client brought these yummy treats in and I was amazed! They are so chewy and rich. I haven’t had anything like this since going GF. I can’t wait to make them for my 4 year old! Thanks…
~M says
Hi Elana,
Costco no longer carries Maranatha roasted almond butter; the new kind they stock includes egg whites and wheat germ so it’s not gluten-free (or pure almond butter).
Where have you found to be the most economical store for almond butter, and what brand do you buy? Thanks!
Rachel says
M, The first time I made these the organic almond butter was on sale for less than half the price it usually sells for. Now that it’s back to full price, the next time I make them, I will use Organic Sunbutter (sunflower seed butter, but only organic has no other ingredients added) because I can’t afford the price of the almond butter these days.
Erica says
Elana- I made these brownies last week, and they were soooo good! They’re already gone! I was really thrown when I saw how much almond butter to use (I used peanut butter), but they turned out fabulously! I also used grain-sweetened chocolate chips. I would recommend to people wishing to try this to chill them in the refrigerator before trying to cut into them (i.e. right out of the oven = crumbly mess). Thanks so much for a delicious gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, worry-free recipe! =)
Erica says
whoops, i guess grain-sweetened chocolate chips wouldn’t be gluten-free, huh? just realized that…
~M says
Hi Elana,
These are in the oven now! Finally! I used my Kitchenaid immersion blender and it shorted out on me! Even my electrical engineer husband couldn’t repair it. :(
I checked to see whether your Amazon store included a hand/immersion blender and it did…but it’s unavailable. I then walked to the store and found a Cuisinart model, only to see that 1) it’s not powerful enough to mix this batter and 2) the thin plastic coating on the power button is flaking off. Gross! So that needs to get returned. Ultimately, I ended up using an electric mixer, which worked fine. But I’m wondering if 1) you have another source for the Braun hand blender you recommended or another model that you would recommend and 2) what made you decide to use a hand blender and not, say, a Cuisinart food processor or electric mixer? Thanks!
Shari Galeano says
YUMMY!!
I just made these. I didn’t have almond butter so I substituted Cashew butter. They are wonderful!! I will have to take some to my brothers house or I fear I will eat the entire pan. Thanks Elana!!!