Sometimes only chocolate will do and on these occasions, what better way to satisfy your chocolate cravings than with something decadent, warm and gooey. Yesterday, I had a free afternoon and a copious amount of almonds and raw cacao hanging out in my cupboard and so the logical result were these Dark Chocolate Almond Swirl Brownies. I’m so glad I made them, as it’s bucketing down rain here in Ireland and on grey days like this, I always crave a little something extra with my afternoon coffee. These will fit the bill perfectly.
We all know healthy is a relative term, and while these brownies contain maple syrup, the recipe produces 15 brownies with just half a cup of maple syrup, which isn’t half bad compared with typical sweet treats that are packed full of sugar and white flour. I’m not saying eat them for breakfast (although that would be rather nice), but I am saying they make for a pretty happy afternoon treat with a cuppa tea. Isn’t it great when you can taste the other ingredients in sweet treats and not just the sugar. With so many sweet treats, every other flavour is over powered by sugar and that just doesn’t work for me. With these brownies, you can taste the chocolate, the almond, the coconut and a hint of salt along with the sweet stuff.
Ingredients
1 ½ cups of ground almonds
¾ cups of raw cacao powder
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch sea salt
½ cup maple syrup
½ cup melted coconut oil
2 large eggs
4 tbsp almond butter
Method
Preheat the oven to Gas 4/180C. Line a medium sized baking dish with parchment paper.
In a mixing bowl, combine the ground almonds, cacao powder, baking powder and sea salt.
In a separate bowl, combine the maple syrup and melted coconut oil. Allow the oil to cool before adding two beaten eggs. Beat the mixture together and then add to the dry ingredients. Fold in until completely combined.
Pour the mixture into the lined baking dish. Using a tea spoon, spoon the almond butter on top of the mixture, distributing it in little dollops all over the surface of the mixture. Place in the oven for 25-30 minutes.
Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool in the dish for about 15 minutes before removing from the dish and placing on a baking try. Cut into individual brownies.
These are great served warm or at room temperature and will last if stored in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 7 days although they will be well eaten by then.
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