Best. Brownies. Ever.

When I was first diagnosed with Celiac disease, there was a little bit of a grieving process. The thought of never having cookies, cake, pizza, or brownies…ever again?! There were some tears.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(source)

Now, in my defense, this condition was relatively unheard of among the general public at that time….so I really felt like it was a culinary death sentence. GF products were not readily available. In fact, it was rare for me to find them anywhere. There were very few other people who I knew who had even heard of it. And no one that I knew had it. I felt doomed to celiac burnout.

But because I have a lot of amazing friends, people started keeping an eye out for gluten free recipes and products for me to try. One recipe, shared with me by a friend who later discovered that there is gluten intolerance in her family, is among my favourite recipes of all time. Definately top 3. And among other brownie recipes? By far the best!  

So I recently contacted her and asked her if she would mind if I shared it with all of you, here on the blog. And she was happy to give me permission. She advised me that it originally came from a cosmo magazine; and that the recipe wasn’t listed as being gluten free….it just happens to be! (sometimes those are the best, since they are intended for ’regular’ people rather than celiacs, you KNOW they’re gonna be good!) It has been modified slightly to be vegan.

It’s not my typical healthy recipe. By that I mean that it isn’t low in fat or calories. But the ingredients are fairly natural, and it is both vegan and gluten free. Sometimes you just have to indulge…this is what I usually eat instead of birthday cake on my birthday! :) I sometimes make this recipe in a muffin tin, and then its already portioned out for you! Here is the recipe, in all it’s chocolate brownie decadence glory! Please forgive the similarity between this photo and the ones for my 3-bite brownie post. I am not a very creatively skilled photographer yet!
 

Best. Brownies. Ever

8 oz. semisweet vegan chocolate

2 cups of vegan butter

1 cup of sugar
(I have tried replacing 1/4 c of the sugar with 1/8 c pure maple syrup and 1/8 c agave. It tasted great, but the consistency of the final product was a little gooey-er. Let me know if you try any substitutions!)

2 tsp. vanilla extract

3 chia eggs (or other egg alternative; you are replacing for three eggs, so bear that in mind when making your substitute)                           

1 1/2 cup ground almonds

1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Melt the chocolate and vegan butter gently over low heat in a heavy bottomed sauce pan (a pot is fine). Remove pan from heat, add the sugar and vanilla and let cool. Beat in the egg substitute, walnuts and almonds. Pour into a 9 inch square baking pan and bake for 25-35 minutes. They will most likely take the full 35 minutes, but you will want to start watching them after 25.

These are amazing on their own, but also incredible when served with a vegan ice cream. If you can find an all natural vanilla one, I would highly recommend that! My favourite to serve with these? So Delicious Coconut Milk Vanilla Bean with no added sugar. It makes me feel a little bit better about the cup of sugar in the brownies. I know, I know, it’s like ordering a fast food meal with a diet coke. But I try to reduce sugar and sodium where I can, and if I am already eating something super sweet and rich, I don’t really want to top it with something equally sweet and rich. These two are a perfect pair! 

So, I know I’ve been off the blog for over a week now…lots of things have come up recently that required some attention. But I am happy to be back! And hope that I still have some readers out there… Hello?! Anyone?!

Have a great weekend!

xoxo,

Jillian

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