Happy Valentine’s Day, friends!! What better way to celebrate LOVE than with chocolate, am I right? I can’t get enough chocolate this month, in case you couldn’t tell. I have been seeing chocolate everything, everywhere and I am not sure what made me think of it, but I realized the other day that I hadn’t made brownies in forever. And that made me sad! What is wrong with me?
I mean really, brownies are happy-making, magical squares of my very favorite stuff!! Soft cocoa-y chocolate chewiness and little bits of dark chocolate in every bite. Ahhhh! It is torture just writing about it.
Though hubby and I don’t generally celebrate Valentine’s Day, I’d like to think we celebrated a little bit early with these beauties. It’s rare that I make a gluten-free or grain-free baked-good and my husband doesn’t tell me what about it makes it taste not quite like the “real thing”. I mean, I don’t blame him. He doesn’t have to eat gluten-free. He gets to enjoy all the “normal” bakeries and their delectable delights, whenever he wants. Jerk Generally he eats and loves whatever I make (with exceptions, of course), but I think given the opportunity he would still choose it’s gluten-containing inspiration. This time around, he couldn’t get enough of the gluten-free version. He was obsessed with these brownies and we were literally fighting over the last one. I let him have it, but I really should have told him to back-off and take a hike to the neighborhood bakery. At one point during the few days we were eating through these, he walked to the corner store to get a pint of vanilla ice cream, he heated one of these brownie squares up and served it à la mode. What can I say? He’s a sweets guy, the man sure knows how to eat his desserts.
These brownies aren’t dry, spongey and cake-like and they aren’t super fudgey, moist and dense, either. Somehow they are just somewhere perfectly in the middle of those two brownie types. The best of both worlds. Brownie perfection. Though Mark enjoyed his brownies warm à la mode, I preferred mine cool, just out of the refrigerator with an ice cold glass of homemade almond milk. Is it bad that we just finished these yesterday and I already want to make them again tomorrow? Ya know, as a valentine’s day gift to my hubby? Yeh, it’d be for him!
How are you spending Valentine’s Day? Do you celebrate?
Oh, and how perfect is this handmade ceramic Crossed Arrows plate? You can get one from my friend Andrea’s etsy store.
[print_this]Grain-Free Double Chocolate Brownies – Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Paleo-Friendly
makes 9-12 brownies, depending on how you cut them
- 2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour (I prefer this brand)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup raw cacao (or cocoa powder)
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/3 cup raw honey (regular honey will also work)
- 2 large local farm fresh brown eggs
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted – You could also try grass-fed butter or ghee
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened non-dairy milk (I used homemade almond milk)
- 3/4 cup dairy-free, gluten-free semi-sweet chocolate chips (I like these)
optional: 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 350º F and lightly grease the bottom and sides of an 8″x8″ square baking pan with coconut oil.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl, add all of the wet ingredients. Mix well with a hand mixer or a whisk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix very well with a hand mixer. Then fold in the chocolate chips and nuts (if you are including) with a spatula.
Pour all of the batter into the greased pan and spread evenly with a spatula or your hands, gently press in. I like to save some of the chocolate chips and sprinkle them across the top just before baking.
Bake for 20 – 25 minutes until the center is no longer super soft and doughy. Allow to cool 10-15 minutes before cutting into bars or they could fall apart.
*These keep best in an air-tight container in the fridge. They keep for about 3-5 days. You can put these in the microwave for a few seconds when serving to take the chill off or to get them slightly warm. [/print_this]
37 Responses
these brownies look amazing,definately going on my menu plan for next week!!!
Thanks Jeanne, I hope you like them.
Thanks for another amazing recipe and and a great giveaway! I just love your website. Keep up the great work, Beth. You are keeping me and my stomach, very happy!!!
Thanks so much Rachel, I am glad you like 😉
Thank you so, so much for this giveaway!
And, um, I need those brownies in my life.
Yes you most certainly do 😉
Oh my gosh, these brownies look phenomenal! Completely as good as the gluten-ful version 😉 My guy is pretty straightforward too about his feedback (as guys tend to be I guess!) but hey, it makes it that much more satisfying when you hit a homerun like this one, right? Your post reminded me that it’s been waaaayy too long since I’ve made brownies too … Yours look scrumptious 🙂 So glad I found you through this giveaway too!! Excited to keep following you, Beth!
Thanks so much, Cynthia. Oh yeh, I do love that about my dude, I don’t ever have to guess what he is thinking. xoxo
Oh! And I forgt to say — I am obsessed with your gorgeous table!! Beautiful wood.
Thanks! Aren’t they so beautiful? It’s actually just two panels of wood. I grabbed them at a flea market. They used to be used on vineyards here in Cali, to trellis the grapes. They have the most beautiful wear and aging to them. I would die to have a table like that 😉
Aw, hubbands. They know not what they do. Except they do know what they do, which is why it’s so satisfying when it doesn’t go as planned. (This is sounded really spiteful…) I’m so glad you threw down with the brownies, girl. I just wanna pluck one of those lil chips right off the screen. xoxo! Em
haha Emily, right? They sure do always mean well. I do actually love his honesty, it is when I really know I have hit a home run as a recipe. If my gluten eating hubby LOVES it and could walk up to the neighborhood bakery and get whatever he wants, you know it’s good 😉 xoxo
BROWNIES. NOW. IN MY FACE. PUT THEM THERE. <—- that is my PMS talking. She's really intense and tends to use all caps. Jeez.
Happy Valentines Day, Friend! So thankful for you. I kind of love you and stuff. I mean, not to get mushy or anything… but, I'll totally use the two girls holding hands emoji right here right now. Is this getting too intense? This is an awkward blog comment. It's just getting worse… I'm gonna go make brownies now. xox
I would LOVE to send some of these to you, lady and your angsty PMS friend.
Happy Valentine’s Day to you too, lady! I just adore you too, so so much!! Never too intense, :dancing girls: :smiley face blowing a kiss: and all the others. I just love love love you! xoxo
Any guess as to how much stevia I could use in place of the honey?
These looks so yummy but I can’t have any kind of sugar.
Thanks!
Hey Stacey, I am sorry, I wish I could offer some suggestions for substituting stevia, I myself can’t have stevia so I haven’t used baked with it in a couple years. I would say since this recipe will be lacking in liquid by taking out the honey, you will want to increase the almond flour a bit or add some liquid in somewhere else, to account for it. Sorry I can’t be of more help. Please report back if you try it.
Thanks so much for your quick response, Beth. I will let you know how they turn out. thanks for your helpful hints as well. I would not have thought of that!
I added extra almond flour, and extra egg, and more almond milk. Because of the extra egg it was more cake-like. I did not add the chocolate chips since they have sugar in it. I used a little too much stevia, but other than that, they were good! I really liked it with coconut cream on top:)
This really looks yummy! So full of chocolate!!! I have to make this!
Thanks! They are so so chocolatey and decadent. I think I need to make these again this weekend 😉
Those chocolate brownies look so good! I have to make them soon. It’s so great to collaborate on this giveaway with you, Beth!
Thanks so much, Arsy!! I am so happy to be partnered up on this, too 😉
Brownies Rock!
Sure do 😉 xo
These brownies are amazing!! I added some shredded coconut on top before baking just to add some color and flavor (love toasted coconut)!! Great dessert for the first time gluten-free baker!!
YAY!! I am so glad you liked them. I love the idea of the toasted coconut. Brilliant idea. Did you add it before you baked it? Thanks for the feedback and for taking the time to comment. xo
Yeah, I sprinkled some on top right before I put it in the oven. It looks great, especially with the extra chocolate-chips on top!
These brownies look DELICIOUS!! I have the biggest sweet tooth, especially when it comes to chocolate and almonds! Have you tried them vegan? I may sub out some ingredients to test it!
Valentines this year was special to me. A group of guy friends had all their single lady friends over and cooked dinner and served us. It was really special to see them go out of their way.
awwww…that is so sweet and very heartwarming! thanks for sharing that.
Aww Sarah – that is sooo very sweet to hear about your guy friends doing that, what a nice idea. How special and lucky you ladies are.
As far as making these vegan, I have to say I am doubtful these would work without the eggs, since they work not only in binding, but also in providing the cakey/fluffiness of the brownies. Recipes with almond flour like this, really rely on the eggs to give it a more grain-like texture, I really wish that weren’t the case. I am sorry 🙁
Okay as I had to scroll through several recipes to get to this post {just 6 days later} I’m realizing you deserve every ounce of everything awesome that comes to you and more! You are one super hard working lady and your content never disappoints, you just keep bringing it day after day after day.
Beth you’re a major inspiration to me, both as a blogger and as a human being.
Lots of love and love and love for days,
XO SHERRIE
I know I already wrote you to tell you how your amazing comment brought me to tears, but I had to reply here to thank you again, Sherrie. You seriously have no clue how badly I needed to hear all of that and how much it touched me. You are an amazing lady and I am so lucky to have you as a friend. Thank you so much. Lots of love to you.
xoxo
Beth
XOXOXOX !!!
These look amazing! Do u think I could sub eggs due to allergy with similar results? Would you recommend flax, egg replacer, or apple sauce for this recipe?
I am not sure that an egg substitute would work in this recipe, nut flours tend to need eggs to not just bind, but to also provide a nice to raise to the recipe, that I am not sure those substitutes would provide. It would certainly be worth some experimenting, but I haven’t done so myself. If you do play around, please report back, I would love to hear how it went.
I don’t really understand why brown eggs are specified. The only difference between brown eggs and white eggs are the color of the chicken that they come from. White eggs are from white chickens, brown eggs are from brown chickens. They are not more nutritious in any way.
Natalie, I never claim they are more nutritious, this is just the type of eggs I happened to use so I always try to keep my ingredient list as specific and true to what I am using as possible.