Ultimate Gluten Free Chocolate Brownies

Now that you’ve seen this blog post, you’ll probably be craving brownies. If yes, my job is complete. If no, write in the comments what else you would like to see in these brownies. Whatever your answer may be, these are certainly ones that will satisfy your craving, and especially if eaten with some Vegan based vanilla ice cream. These have been taste tested hot and cold with both being yummy; however, the texture is completely different. When served cold, they have a fudge like consistency. When served heated, they have a bit of crumble but still maintain their shape.

This makes approximately 12 - 16 brownies. When all the ingredients are added together (including the optional ingredients: 1/8 cup of crushed walnuts or peanuts and approximately 1/2 - 1  banana) the amount of calories it has is approximately 3055. So if you make 12 brownies, total calories per brownie is 254  (3055 divided by 12). As for fat, protein, sugar, etc.. I did not do the calculations for that. For future posts, I may invest in an app that calculates the nutritional information so I don't have to figure it out myself. Please leave a comment for any suggestions that you have regarding this. Thanks! :) 

Now onto the more exciting stuff, the recipe! 

Bowl 1:

Make Chia Egg in a bowl with 2 TBSP of chia seeds and 6 TBSP of water. Mix together and let sit for approximately 10 minutes. Make sure that you mix it well enough so that the chia seeds are distributed through the water and not just resting at the top.

Set oven to 350 F. 

Bowl 2:

In a large bowl mix ingredient by ingredient in the exact order as to how the ingredient list is shown, which is;

·         ¼ cup melted coconut oil or 1 mashed banana (they both work!)

·         ½ cup of natural peanut butter

·         ¾ cup of coconut sugar

·         1 tsp natural vanilla extract

·         Add chia egg

·         ½ cup of cacao powder

·         ½ cup of oat flour (I grind my own in a handheld blender). The second time I made this recipe I ran out of oats to grind, so I used white flour. Either works great. Just depends on whether or not you want to keep it gluten free. 

·         ¼ tsp of salt

·         Fold in ½ cup of vegan chocolate chips. I use the ones by Enjoy Life. In the recipe that I did with the mashed banana instead of the coconut oil, I only used 1/8 of a cup of chocolate chips and it was still delicious, but with less calories (obviously!). :) 

Use parchment paper or grease a square baking dish and spread brownie batter evenly over the surface. Optional is to top with banana slices and crushed walnut pieces.

Bake for approximately 27 – 31 minutes. I originally had 25 - 29 minutes; however, please use discretion based on how compact you want your brownies to be.

Let cool completely before cutting it into its designated pieces and store in fridge.

Key points: 

·         Rotate brownies halfway through the cooking process.

·         If the batter at the top starts to crack, this is a good indication that your brownies are done.

·         If you put a toothpick in it, it should come out with some crumbs; however, since the chocolate chips are in there, it may come out gooey if you accidently poke a chocolate chip with the toothpick. Poke a few areas in the middle of the batter to ensure that you’re not overcooking the brownies based on the toothpick coming out wet because of the chocolate chip residue.