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Unbelievable gluten-free coconut brownies

For those who believe 'healthy' and 'dessert' cannot uttered in the same sentence, try gluten-free brownies! You'll taste plenty of sugar and chocolate – without using flour. 

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Beyond the Peel
Not a big fan of coconut? Try nuts as a filling instead, whole wheat flour or regular gluten-free flour, and brown sugar.

Is it bad to eat six brownies in between lunch and dinner? It can’t be good right?

Unless of course they are delicious brownies. After all, I have had some bad brownies in my time. Some dried out wannabe version of a brownie. Crumbly, flavorless, or worse, “too sweet they stick to the teeth I need 2 glasses of milk to swallow it” brownies. Then there are the failed attempts at making healthy brownies. There are a surprising amount of those out there. Blah. Nasty. I have been not only the victim of said failed brownies, but the creator as well!

As you might already know, not everything I make is considered healthy. Especially when you consider all the food circles. And you know what? That’s OK by me. Everyone’s got their own version of what is healthy. Some say paleo, others say primal, or vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, grain free, traditional diets (WAP), allergy free … the list goes on. Mine is simply to stick to real food/whole food and try for moderation.

Six brownies. Moderation experiment failed. Yup, huge failure. Moderation that is. The recipe on the other hand, as you can guess by my unadulterated consumption, was a huge success.

For those of you who believe that the words “healthy and dessert” should never mingle you’ll be glad to know that these aren’t low in sugar. They are made with natural/whole food sugars though, but you wouldn’t know it! That’s the best part.

These also happen to be gluten-free, dairy-free and grain-free. The one crutch is the sugar, a blend of coconut sugar (cheap at Costco) and honey or agave. I even tested these out on a crew of fire fighters yesterday. They loved them. Success.

I hope you decide to give these a whirl. Texture wise, I’d say they are somewhere between a brownie and a chocolate cake. Dense and moist like a brownie but not so dense they stick to the teeth. You won’t be disappointed, I promise. I’ve made some substitution notes below the recipe.

Coconut brownies

 1/2 cup coconut oil (or unsalted butter)

1/2 cup cocoa or cacao plus 1 tablespoon

6 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup coconut sugar

1/3 cup honey or agave

1/2 cup coconut flour

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

tiny pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 8 by 8-inch pan with parchment paper.

2. Melt the coconut oil (just to melting, not hot) and whisk in the cocoa/cacao.

3. In a medium sized bowl whisk the eggs, sugar, honey, and vanilla together. Pour in the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Add the coconut flour and coconut and mix until combined.

4. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes or until set in the middle.

Recipe Notes & Substitutions:

Coconut: Substitute 2/3 cup of nuts for coconut.

Flour: Though I haven’t tried it, I’m pretty confident that if you wanted to try this out with whole wheat flour, oat flour or gluten-free flour, it would work.

Sugar: Not ready to try coconut sugar? 3/4 cup packed brown sugar would work too, but omit the honey.

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