These brownies will melt in your mouth and so will all of your surroundings. They have become quite a hit at our home, and are gone in 60 seconds. That’s no figure of speech. I first tried fudge at one of my closest friend’s wedding at Niagara On The Lake about 7 years ago. I thought I had died and gone to food heaven; that moment has been forever crystallized in my memory. Oh Fudge. Yes, “fudge” is not something I grew up on. Sadly.

It was a glorious, summer morning wedding. Albeit I had a minor problem…Well, kind of a big problem, actually. I was her “maid of honor/witness” yet I couldn’t even walk up the staircase to get to the wedding. I was at the height of my illness and flare ups were out of control. My lower back was particularly on fire on that humid summer day. My husband (ever my loyal companion and partner in crime) had devised a plan to get me up the very long & steep staircase of the “Inn On The Twenty’ when the bride wasn’t looking. After all, you don’t need the bride to see her only witness being carried up the stairs wincing in pain, in a Cleopatra-like fashion. So we leveraged a clever distraction and he carried me up the stairs and helped me get on my feet once again. I sat down as soon as I could and consumed a lot of fudge and wine that day. And they lived happily ever after!

The thing about fudge is that there are so many variations to it. That day there was white chocolate and maple fudge from a local bakery. I loved the maple fudge. That archived memory led to the inspiration for this dessert. I figured: if I sweeten these brownies with pure maple syrup and omit refined white sugar, use gluten-free almond flour in a lesser amount, add a copious amount of cacao nibs or semi-sweet chipits, and use unprocessed raw cacao powder- we will end up with a truly beautiful, fudgy thing. And oh we did! We did.

Makes 12 Brownies in an 8 x 8 pan- You Will Need:

Dry Ingredients

• 2/3 cup of almond flour or “almond meal”
• 1/2 teaspoon of gluten free baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 3 tablespoons of raw cacao powder
• 3/4 cup of raw cacao nibs or semi sweet chocolate chipits

Wet Ingredients

• 1/2 a cup of pure maple syrup
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon of pure almond extract (or pure vanilla extract)
• 1/2 cup of coconut oil (you could also use grass-fed butter, the same measurement applies)

Preparation

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt the coconut oil and cacao nibs OR chocolate chipits in a bowl that’s placed over a gently simmering sauce pan filled with water. Microwaving chocolate results in easily scorched chocolate- this improvised method is better!
3. Pour all the dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix together with a whisk
4. Using the same whisk (but in a separate bowl) whisk the eggs, maple syrup and almond extract for 1-2 minutes.
5. Gently pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the melted chocolate & coconut oil, mixing as you pour.
6. Combine wet and dry ingredients and whisk once again for at least 2 minutes
7. Pour into a non-stick pan (greased with a bit of coconut oil)
8. Bake for 25 minutes. Check them at the 20 minute mark, they could be ready.
9. Enjoy them with those you love! I had Queen Elsa helping me prepare them.