This is my second brownie recipe in just as many weeks. Pssst… I like chocolate, sorry. Not sorry. I think chocolate is a beautiful thing; especially when stripped down from dairy & sugar. You can seldom go wrong with brownies, and these are quite literally my 10 minute brownies. They take 10 minutes to prepare (25-30 minutes to bake) and won’t last more than 10 minutes once they’re ready. They’re THAT good. They are almost like a dense chocolate cookie, moist and in-between chewy and crispy. The texture is perfectly in the middle.

I lowered the amount of eggs compared to my other recipe (we go from needing 3 to needing 1 large egg). Yet they’re as moist and fluffy, and packed with chocolate gooiness. But just a small advisory: these are not kid-friendly due to the espresso beans. Unless of course, you’d like your kids jumping off the walls well into twilight. Because yes, that would also be a beautiful thing. That said, simply remove the espresso beans & you immediately have another delicious kid-friendly treat.

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

Dry Ingredients

• 1 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
• 1 cup of raw cacao nibs OR semi sweet chocolate chipits
• 1 tablespoon of finely ground espresso beans (you could use decaf OR do half this measurement for less caffeine)

Wet Ingredients

• 1/2 a cup of pure maple syrup or raw honey (I prefer maple syrup)
• 1 large egg
• 1/2  tablespoon of pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of cold pressed 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 egg, maple syrup and vanilla extract for 1-2 minutes.
5. Gently pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the melted chocolate & coconut oil, mixing as you integrate
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 or butter)
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Check them at the 20 minute mark, they could be ready. Ovens do vary.
9. Enjoy them with those you love!