Amazing Grain Free Brownies (with two secret ingredients)!

I love my friends, and we have a great time together, but we don’t have food in common. I used to fit in better and make the most fabulous party food, and also cookies. I would go on cookie baking sprees and then give them all away to the people in my life. Then I started to feel guilty because everyone was dieting, but they liked the cookies so they’d eat them anyway.

I’ve also wellness coached in places where someone brings in baked goods all the time, and the other people have this love/hate relationship with the situation. Everyone complains to me about it, but they aren’t quite to the point where they’d tell the baker to stop (because baked goods really are yummy!).

My other party specialties used to be brownie bites (mini brownies with a cream cheese whipped cream piped frosting) and buffalo chicken wing dip (with an entire pound of cream cheese and a jar of Marzetti’s Blue Cheese dressing—or ranch, depending on the crowd. It also had an entire jar of hot sauce and 2lbs of shredded chicken in it…men tend to flock around it and lick the crockpot when it’s gone…).

Today? I can’t make things like that. Number one, because I can’t eat it—and I always feel the need to taste test things I’m making. Number two, because I feel a moral obligation, as the person with the PhD in health and more nutrition info than I know what to do with, to set a good example and promote wellness.

Even though most people from my past (i.e. hometown) just think I’m eating differently than they do because of health issues (which is one reason for it), I like eating clean organic unprocessed foods. It makes me feel good, mentally and physically. Many of you will agree with me, but maybe you can picture all the people in your lives who eat the Standard American Diet and see nothing wrong with it… and how they’d react to a hummus platter with veggies to dip…or lettuce wraps with avocado and homemade salsa inside.

Recently, I went to a party with friends and took brownies as my dish to pass. These were not just any brownies—they were gluten free (and egg and peanut free too!). I was slightly skeptical about how they’d turn out, but they ended up being amazing.

Please make them. And take them to a party… See if anyone says anything to you–I had a few people gushing over them, but also a few people who didn’t say anything at all (so maybe they liked them…or hated them!).

The Recipe (I got the idea here and adapted it):

In a bowl, blend the following:

1 12oz. jar of Dark Chocolate Almond Butter (or 12oz any nut butter plus 1-2tbsp cocoa powder)
8oz creamy sunbutter
7oz canned pumpkin
1 tbsp coffee or espresso powder (optional)
1/4 – 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup maple syrup  (I use Grade B)
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs (it works with chia eggs too)

Mix all ingredients thoroughly (I used a KitchenAid stand mixer, but you could use your muscles if you don’t have one! If you use the mixer, it’s best to put the chocolate chips in last).

Bake in a greased 9×13 baking pan for 50 minutes at 350 degrees. It could have possibly come out a little sooner…but I was busy and forgot about it… This pan of brownies definitely needs to cool in the pan or it will just be goop if you try and cut remove them right away. Once cooled, I removed brownies from the pan and put them in a container in the fridge, without layering any…they would have stuck together. Chewy and dense. I thought about frosting them, but they really didn’t need it!

I’ve concluded a couple things from this. I’m going to stop experimenting when I’m taking food to other people’s houses. It stresses me out too much. I’m also going to try harder not to care if people think I’m crazy because of how I eat. I love how I eat.

I have a drink recipe to share with you soon—it’s a super duper adaptogen tonic, plus some other thoughts on herbal supplements for weight/metabolism purposes. After that, I’m going to have a stevia giveaway to go along with a series of posts I’m doing about adopting a low sugar diet and what it can do to enhance your wellness.

I’m officially back from vacation, and working mostly from home now. So, I have PIP 3 coming up—and it’s a good one!  (Think: rebounding, infrared sauna, yoga…and cultured veggies!). I also have a few beautiful food pics to show you from Florida, but I’ll save those for a seafood post.

Would you take a made up recipe to a party?  If so, would you be nervous about it, or just wave your crazy flag and not care if people think you’re weird?!  Hope your week is great so far!