I came to the conclusion that something I'm missing in my collection of recipes – a brownie recipe. Everyone needs a brownie recipe. 🙂
One of my friends told me she had a brownie recipe that she would like to share with me which contained some “secret” ingredients. She said her older children don't even want to eat her brownies because of what she puts in them, while her younger children think that's what brownies are supposed to be like. Well, they are delicious, it's just that they contain vegetables, which normally one would not imagine to find in brownies. My friend's version needed conversion to be grain and sugar-free and so I set out to begin the trials.
These brownies are moist with a cake-like texture.
Remember that Dr. Natasha has approved cocoa powder [affiliate link] for those whose digestive problems have ceased. I recently researched Baker's Unsweetened chocolate to learn that it is 100% ground cacao beans. From the site: “Chocolate is made from cocoa beans. The beans are roasted, and then ground, resulting in cocoa solids, which when combined with cocoa butter creates chocolate.” So although Dr. Natasha says “cocoa powder”, I think Baker's Unsweetened chocolate is probably safe as well. Thanks to Kristen for asking about substitutions for the Baker's unsweetened baking chocolate squares I learned that you can substitute 3 Tablespoons of cocoa (or cacao powder) and 1 Tablespoon fat (butter, palm shortening or coconut oil [affiliate link]) for each ounce.
Remember though if you have adrenal fatigue, chocolate is a source of caffeine and can be hard on the adrenals. If you make these and cut them into 9, then cut each square into four, you can eek out 36 bite-sized servings.
Grain-Free Double Double Chocolate Brownies
- 1 cup cooked carrots (about 3 carrots)
- 3 large whole eggs [affiliate link]
- 3 ounces Baker's unsweetened baking chocolate squares (100% cacao)
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 6 Tablespoons honey [affiliate link]
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla [affiliate link] extract
- 2 Tablespoons Tropical Traditions coconut flour [affiliate link], packed
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup walnuts [affiliate link], chopped (preferably soaked and dehydrated “Crispy Walnuts”)
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grease an 8″ x 8″ glass baking dish with coconut oil.
Place three carrots in a steamer and cook until tender, about 25 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature.
Melt chocolate squares in a double boiler. If you don't have a double boiler, just place a glass Pyrex or oven-safe bowl over a small pan of water. It will take about 15 minutes to heat the water and melt the chocolate. If your coconut oil is solidified, add to the bowl and melt.
Place 2 eggs and cooled carrots in your blender, or Magic Bullet MBR-1701 17-Piece Express Mixing Set and process until pureed. Move to a medium sized mixing bowl.
Add remaining egg, honey, cocoa powder, vanilla extract and salt into the mixing bowl. When the chocolate squares and coconut oil are melted, add into the mixing bowl. Mix together.
The mixture should be creamy, like pudding. Add 1 Tablespoon of coconut flour [affiliate link] at a time, waiting one minute in between adding more to allow the coconut flour to absorb the liquids. You are looking for a brownie-like batter. Spread the batter into the 8×8 glass cooking dish. Bake for 20 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160°F and brownies are firm to the touch.
Makes 9 large brownies, or 36 bite sized.
This recipe shared at Fat Tuesday.
- 1 cup cooked carrots (about 3 carrots)
- 3 large whole eggs
- 3 ounces Baker's unsweetened baking chocolate squares (100% cacao)
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- 6 Tablespoons honey
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
- 2-3 Tablespoons Tropical Traditions coconut flour, packed
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup walnuts, chopped
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Grease an 8" x 8" glass baking dish with coconut oil.
- Place three carrots in a steamer and cook until tender, about 25 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature.
- Melt chocolate squares in a double boiler. If you don't have a double boiler, just place a glass Pyrex or oven-safe bowl over a small pan of water. It will take about 15 minutes to heat the water and melt the chocolate. If your coconut oil is solidified, add to the bowl and melt.
- Place 2 eggs and cooled carrots in your blender, or Magic Bullet MBR-1701 17-Piece Express Mixing Set and process until pureed. Move to a medium sized mixing bowl.
- Add remaining egg, honey, cocoa powder, vanilla extract and salt into the mixing bowl. When the chocolate squares and coconut oil are melted, add into the mixing bowl. Mix together.
- The mixture should be creamy, like pudding. Add 1 Tablespoon of coconut flour at a time, waiting one minute in between adding more to allow the coconut flour to absorb the liquids. You are looking for a brownie-like batter. Spread the batter into the 8x8 glass cooking dish. Bake for 20 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160°F and brownies are firm to the touch.
- Makes 9 large brownies, or 36 bite sized.
If you love desserts like this, I have two cookbooks you really need to check out ASAP! Naturally Sweetened Treats for gluten-free dessert needs and Baker’s Dozen Volume 4, Chocolate Treats for amazing chocolate desserts and snacks.
MMMMMMMM …. these look AMAZING!!! I love the carrot twist! 🙂
I really like them, and I like that such a tiny amount can be so satisfying. They are very rich and you can’t tell there are carrots in them AT ALL. 🙂
How cool! I love the addition of carrots….something I’ve never seen before! I have been cutting back on grains a lot lately with all of the health testimonies floating around, so I will have to give these a try! 🙂
Looks really yummy! Any ideas on how to adjust if I want to use straight cacao powder and no baker’s chocolate or cocoa? I’d like to try these, but I’d need for where I am in the GAPS diet.
Hi Kristen, cacao powder can be substituted straight across for the cocoa powder. The Baker’s chocolate however adds some moisture… according to this site for 1 ounce of unsweetened chocolate you would substitute 3 tablespoons cocoa powder plus 1 tablespoon butter or shortening (or I’m sure coconut oil would work as well). http://www.joyofbaking.com/unsweetenedchocolate.html If you try these, let me know how they turn out. 🙂
Thanks so much, Starlene 🙂 I plan to try them soon!
Could I use cooked pumpkin instead of the carrots? I have some left from Thanksgiving that I’d love to use.
Hi Ann – that sounds like a fantastic idea! If you try it, let me know how it works out. 🙂 The only thing I want to warn is if the pumpkin is one of the big ones and more watery then you might need a touch more coconut flour. Other than that, I hope they turn out great! 🙂
Thanks, Jessica! I am finding that carrots are a very nice substitution for fruit and in chocolate, totally invisible. 😉
Hi Lauren, you’ll have to let me know what you think of them. I liked them a lot and am ready for another batch. 🙂
Cool. I was thinking I should probably try this recipe with the substitutions and see if it works. At this site though, I have to tell you they say you can make cacao powder just by blending cacao nibs. http://livesuperfoods.com/ I tried to link to the exact page where they said that, but it just redirects to the main page. To find what I’m talking about, go to the link above, then click on Raw & Vegan foods, then Cacao & Vanilla. Then click on Live Superfoods Raw Cacao Nibs. Then at the bottom under “Using Cacao Beans and Nibs at Home” it says, ” If you have a Champion juicer, you can make unsweetened baker’s chocolate by running the nibs or unpeeled whole beans through it. To make a “liquor” run the powder through the Champion several more times until it separates into powder and liquid.” Okay, let me know how they turn out for you. Best, Starlene
Tried this for our New Year’s party, – I left it as a cake instead of cutting into brownies. Turned out great! Thank you for the recipe. Good that it wasn’t over-sweet.
Katya, sounds delish! I will have to try it that way. Did you put frosting on it?
Yes – I made some GAPS-friendly “bird’s milk” (an Eastern European sweet, which is like a soft marshmallow made with egg whites, gelatin, butter and honey) and put that on top. I can post the recipe for it if you like. I think I came up with it myself after reading through a number of (decidedly non-GAPS) Russian recipes.
Theses are fantastic! I started eating it before it was finished. I substituted some powdered stevia for part of the honey. I wanted to cut down on the sugar because there is no way I can eat only one bite. This made 3 portions for me. Thank you for turning into a brownie-junkie!