Coconut Flour Brownies

If you’re anything like me, you think chocolate is pretty awesome. There are many delicious ways to enjoy it and, for me, brownies are pretty up there.

Turns out that low-carb brownies may be the best thing since…well… regular brownies!

This recipe is not only sugar-free and gluten-free, it is utterly delicious – and pretty much as guilt free as it gets!

The other great thing about these brownies is they actually get better the longer it’s been since you made them (up to a point, obviously!), so if you’re making them for a particular occasion I’d recommend making them the day before.

I first found this recipe on Fawne Hanson’s website about Adrenal Fatigue but I’ve made a couple of modifications.

I added some milk to the original recipe, because without that the batter was so stiff you couldn’t mix it! If you’re a dairy-free person you can use coconut milk instead.
As mentioned in my previous post I’m not a lover of super sweet things, so you may find the amount of sweetener I’ve used is not enough for you – just depends on personal preference.
Same with the vanilla essence – some people like a lot, some people like a little, so base this on your palette.
It’s important that you let the melted coconut oil cool before you mix it with the eggs – hot oil and raw eggs don’t really agree with each other! The melting only takes a few minutes, and the cooling can sometimes take up to 15mins especially in these quantities. Melting the oil ahead of time helps speeds up the baking process.
When mixing the wet and dry ingredients together, I recommend you don’t muck about in getting them combined. You don’t have to be frantic, but coconut flour absorbs liquid very quickly and if you take too long to mix it you may find all your liquid has disappeared! If this happens just add a little more milk to help you get it all combined. Once you’ve baked with coconut flour a couple of times you get the hang of it, so if this is your first time using it don’t get too stressed.

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Coconut Flour Brownies

Prep Time: 10-15mins approx.
Cook Time: 30mins

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup almond flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup powdered xylitol (or sweetener of choice)
6 eggs
1/4 cup milk (or coconut milk for dairy free)
1/2tsp-1tsp of vanilla essence

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt the coconut oil using a small saucepan on a medium heat. Set aside to cool.
2. Pre-heat oven to 320F (160C). Line a brownie tin with baking paper.
3. Mix all the dry ingredients (except the sweetener) together in a large bowl. Make sure you work out all the lumps in the coconut and almond flours, otherwise you’ll end up with massive lumps in your brownies!
4. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs then add the coconut oil (ONLY once it is cooled down from melting), milk, vanilla and sweetener. Mix until well combined and the sweetener is at least partially dissolved.
5. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until combined.
6. Spoon into prepared tin.
7. Bake for 30-40mins until firm and cooked in the centre.
8. Leave to cool before cutting.

I like to eat my brownies with cream – lots of cream!

Any comments or questions let me know below!

Enjoy! 🙂

Avocado Chocolate Mousse

As a child I had a lot of food allergies and, among other things, chocolate mousse was a definite no-no! My body struggled with dairy from day one, and it was only a few years ago that I was able to add cheese and butter to my diet (big hooary!), so a rich, dairy based chocolate mousse was out of the question.

Since I’ve been eating a low-card-high-fat (LCHF) diet I’ve been able to tolerate milk and cream as well, which has been great, so when I found this recipe at DitchThe Carbs.com I decided to give it a try!

Having never had ordinary chocolate mousse before, I have nothing to compare this with – but it tastes pretty good to me! The avocado gives it a wonderful creamy texture. I did find it a bit rich for my stomach when I ate it by itself, but when paired with yoghurt and blueberries it is simply delightful! I imagine any kind of berries would work well, but blueberries are my personal favourite.

You can find the recipe here.

I don’t like very sweet things, so I didn’t use the full amount of sweetener that the recipe called for (only used 1tsp instead of 2tbsp). I’d suggest you blend up all the other ingredients first and then add sweetener to taste so you can get it the way you like it.
If you’re not a dairy person, I would guess that using coconut cream instead would also produce a nice mousse. I can’t vouch for this, as I haven’t tried it yet myself, so if you do try it please comment below and tell me how it went!
Another tip: if you’re using a stick blender make sure you put the cocoa and ground almonds in the bowl UNDER the cream. Otherwise when you will likely get covered in a fine shower of cocoa when you start blending!! Learn from my mistakes…