These Paleo brownies are so moist, so springy and so UN-apologically supreme – no one will ever notice they are gluten free! They are also dairy and refined sugar free too which means you can feel good about eating them as a treat from time to time. We aren’t gluten allergic in our house, but several of our friends are and this treat is great to be served as a dessert with ice cream, whipped cream or on their own with the strong coffee Norwegians are so famous for serving.
We spoke a little about Paleo cooking and the Paleo or “Caveman” diet a few weeks ago over a batch of chocolate chip cookies , and I’m still sort of digging it right now. I’m trying it out this month in an effort to clean up my eating habits a bit and find a way to deal with some intolerance issues I’ve been managing for the past 2 years. Don’t let any of that make you think these brownies aren’t to die for – because they are, whether you eat the Paleo way or not. They turn out like moist cakey brownies, so beware if you like the half baked chewy traditionally made ones.
- 125g (1 cup) blanched almond flour (also called almond powder in international supermarkets)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda (called natron in Norwegian)
- 115g (4 ounces) baking chocolate (70+% cacao), roughly chopped or in disks
- 7 Medjool dates, pits removed
- 3 large eggs
- 125ml (½ cup) coconut oil, melted
- Seeds from 1 vanilla pod
- ½ teaspoon vanilla stevia
- Spray your baking pan with non-stick spray and set aside. Preheat your oven to 175C/350F.
- Add the almond flour, salt and baking soda to the bowl of food processor and pulse together. Add in the chocolate pieces and pulse again until the mixture resembles sand, before adding in the dates. Pulse the mix again until the dates are finely chopped and well incorporated into the mixture. Be sure to pulse in the ingredients in the right order as this helps them incorporate better into the mixture.
- Next, add your eggs into the mix all at once, and pulse the machine until they are fully incorporated. Finally, add in the coconut oil, vanilla seeds, and stevia then pulse until the mixture is smooth. It should look like dark brown silly putty, and be very pliable.
- Add the mixture to the baking pan and smooth the top with a spoon, rubber or offset spatula. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove from the oven and allow to cool for 2 hours, before serving.
If you live in Norway and plan to make these brownies, save yourself some money and buy you almond flour in the international markets. Most international markets stock “almond powder” which is nearly the same as blanched almond flour (I still can’t tell the difference, but I bet someone will argue that there is…). While you are there, be sure to grab your dates in the international markets as well. Dates bought in international markets in Norway tend to be of higher quality then those bought in more traditional stores. And of course, they are a lot more budget friendly.
Although I haven’t tried it yet, using 70% dark chocolate with mint in these brownie could be really good too! The chocolate I used in this recipe the first time around came from a top-notch chocolatier, but I’ve also tried them with the budget brand baking chocolate you can buy in Norway. Both tasted terrific – but the fancier one seemed a lot less greasy in the end. I’ll do myself a favor next time and make them with the 100% cocoa bars from Ghirardelli (sold through iHerb!).
Enjoy these other Paleo brownies and dessert recipes:
Paleo Caramel Brownies from Elana’s Pantry
Hazelnut Paleo Brownies from Food Faith Fitness
Flourless Brownies from Paleo Leap
Double Chocolate Paleo Brownies from Fit Foodie Finds
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