Almond Butter Brownies

Dolly & Oatmeal is a gorgeous blog run by Lindsey S. Love, so despite the slightly niche concept of a cookbook devoted to chickpea flour, I  pre-ordered her cookbook Chickpea Flour Does It All. It's organized seasonally, which is something that drives me a little crazy, because it makes it more difficult to flip a book open and quickly locate that dessert or soup or salad you know is in there. But, I appreciate cookbook authors trying to simplify seasonal meal planning for home cooks. Torn pieces of junk mail help me flip quickly to the recipes I like/want to try and I've been happily wowed with almost every recipe I've tried so far, including these almond butter brownies.

It's worth stating up front that this little square of 8-by-8-inch brownies will set you back a few more pennies than your average brownies recipe. With the expensive ingredients, you're looking at $5 for 1 cup almond butter, $3 for 1 cup coconut sugar, $4+ for 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate. Don't fool yourself into thinking these are necessarily healthy either, they're fat and sugar held together with a minimal amount of chickpea flour, just like your favorite flourless chocolate cake or fudgy brownie. Not that that's a bad thing, but this "don't use sugar, use honey/agave/dates instead" craze is making me insane. All of these sugar sources, are, surprise...full of sugar. It's really a question of moderation in all things and which sugar will work best for your application. 

In these almond butter brownies, the coconut sugar works beautifully. If you don't have coconut sugar and you don't want to buy any, you can still make these with regular brown sugar, but because brown sugar is sweeter you should cut the amount used to 75%. Likewise, if you don't want to buy chickpea flour (you're missing out - it's cheap, nutritious, nutty-flavored, and surprisingly delightful in a wide range of dishes), you could just use the same amount (⅓ cup) all-purpose flour instead.

Lindsey's almond butter brownies are easy to throw together, like all good brownies ought to be. The dough is quite sticky and not at all easy to spread into the baking pan. I pushed it around to fill the pan as best I could, but didn't fill it evenly or get the corners just so.

The final brownies are very gooey. I baked mine for a little less time than recommended, 18 minutes instead of the 20-25 minute window. Although I served these warm and my tasters liked them, I thought I could taste the chickpea flour while they were fresh from the oven. The following day, I found myself devouring these rich and decadent nutty-tasting brownies with glorious chunks of bittersweet chocolate studded throughout. They're quite rich and decadent, especially when served chilled from the freezer, with or without a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

Original source: Chickpea Flour Does It All

Almond Butter Brownies {gluten & lactose-free}

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Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 16 brownies

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup (40 g) chickpea flour or all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate 65-70% cacoa, roughly chopped
• 1 cup (144 g) coconut sugar or ¾ cup (150 grams) brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup (240 g) almond butter or peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

optional

• ½ cup (50 g) chopped almonds or peanuts

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Grease an 8-by-8-inch square pan. Line with parchment paper, allowing two sides to hang over.
• In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together.
• Using a double-boiler, heatproof bowl set over a pan of boiling water, or in a microwave, melt 4 ounces of the chocolate. Stir until completely melted and then let cool for 5 minutes.
• In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together, then whisk in the almond butter and vanilla. Pour in the melted chocolate, mix until combined. Fold in the flour mixture until just incorporated. The dough should be thick and gooey.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth out the top with a rubber spatula, then sprinkle with the remaining 2 ounces of bittersweet chocolate and optional chopped almonds.
• Bake for 20 minutes, erring on the side of underbaking rather than overbaking. No liquid should stick to a toothpick inserted into the center of done brownies, but some brownie crumbs should.
• Allow the brownies to cool for 20 minutes, then lift from the pan with the parchment paper. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely (or freeze for 30 minutes to speed up the cooling). Slice the brownies into squares and serve.
• These can be stored at room temperature for 4 days in an airtight container or in the freezer for 1 month. You may find you prefer these straight from the freezer, they are fantastic chilled.