Healthy Dark Chocolate Brownies

Healthy? Brownies? Yes. Well, pretty much. I adapted this recipe from Averie Cooks to my liking. Much of the butter is cut out by using a mashed (very ripe) avocado. Sugar? Try honey and molasses. (Although I did sprinkle the top with some powdered sugar...) The result? Soft, fudgy, chocolate goodness. I will say that if you do not like dark chocolate, you will not like these. But for those of you who are like me, this is the perfect chocolate fix! You could make them sweeter by cutting out the molasses and using all honey. And you could use regular cocoa powder instead of dark. But I like my chocolate seriously dark.


Healthy Dark Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients:
Flesh from 1 very ripe Hass avocado, well mashed
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
1/2 cup + 1 TBSP pure honey
1/4 cup molasses 
2 TBSP coffee (from your morning brew)
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup unsweetened dark natural cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking soda 
1 packet instant coffee (I used Starbucks Via Italian Roast...the stronger, the better!)
1/4 cup gluten-free or all-purpose flour

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350*F and generously spray an 8x8 glass baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
• In a large bowl, add your avocado and make sure it is well mashed. The riper the avocado, the easier to smooth it out.
• Add the melted butter, egg, honey, molasses, coffee, and vanilla. Whisk to combine. Continue to whisk out any green streaks or lumps.
• Add the cocoa powder, baking soda and instant coffee. Whisk until incorporated and free from lumps.
• Add the flour and mix just until combined. Don't over mix.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and gently smooth out with a spatula. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the top has just set, it's not jiggly in the center, and the edges have firmed up. The toothpick test doesn't work here. These are fudgy, so crumbs will stick to a toothpick. Don't over bake.
• I sliced them up and had one warm about 20 minutes after pulling them out of the oven. You could may choose to chill them. Enjoy! 

{Grain & Refined Sugar Free} PB Cookies

These are the other (somewhat healthier) peanut butter cookies I made this past weekend. First of all, the dough is incredible. Seriously, seriously incredible. The texture is like a fluffy frosting. Really, if you wanted, you could omit the egg and baking soda and use it as a peanut butter frosting. Or fruit dip. Or just eat it with a spoon... However, the cookies themselves have a really weird texture. They don't taste bad, in fact, they're kind of addicting. It's difficult to describe. They're moist and have this amazing peanut butter flavor. I have found that the texture is better if the cookies are frozen. (The cookies are still soft when frozen.) A little Nutella adds a nice touch. 


PB Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup natural peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
8 oz plain Greek yogurt (I used Fage 2%)
1/2 cup local honey
1 tsp natural vanilla
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 egg 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and your choice of grease.
• Mix everything up in a bowl or use your stand mixer. Like I said, the texture will resemble a fluffy frosting. 
• Use a cookie scoop (about 2 tsp), placing the drops of dough about 2" apart on the cookie sheet--they will spread!
• Bake for about 10 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden.
• Let cool for a couple minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Makes about 36 cookies. Enjoy!