If you haven’t noticed, I’ve beenĀ on a little bit of a baking hiatus. It’s not that I haven’t baking, becauseĀ Instagram knows I have.
It’s just that ever since I made a commitment to follow the #SummerSWEATseries workouts and some of the meal plans, I’ve made a conscious effort about the amount of sugar and sweet treats I’ve been putting into my body. When I do indulge it’s usually a spoonful or two of vanilla almond butter or some dessert chia protein bars that I’ve been making (coming soon!). But lately brownies have been on my mind; you all know that usually I’m obsessed with cookies but I’ve been craving chocolate like no other.
When I’m baking for myself (or the blog), I try and be mindful of the ingredients that I’m using, making sure that most areĀ all natural and unrefined. I also tend to like weird hippie dippie nutritious things in my sweets, like chickpeas and black beans, or sometimes even avocados. This time, I was set out on baking a grain free, paleo brownie with coconut flour.
I’ve been addicted to coconut flour lately (if you couldn’t tell). Trader Joe’s has the cheapest coconut flour I can find and the challenge of baking with it is fun for me.Ā Plus LOWER CARBS FTW.
AĀ company that I’ve been loving lately is Aloha, who also happen to be sponsors of the #summerSWEATseries. They make the most ridiculously delicious superfood chocolate bars, packed with antioxidants and REAL good-for-you nutrients.
They sent me a few samples of theirĀ chocolate bars and I was immediately hooked, not only because of the flavor, but also because of the high-quality ingredients.Ā Aloha chocolate consists of raw cacao beans sourced from Peru, are sweetened with coconut sugar only AND each bar contains superfoods like raw cacao, raspberries and blueberries. They are fair trade, organic, gluten free and vegan. I absolutely knew they’d be wonderful chopped up into chunks and thrown into my brownie batter.
Best of all, Aloha is offering 40%Ā off ALOHA.com purchases of $40 or more! This offer is good one time only. All you have to do is enter ‘SWEATSERIES’ at checkout. The offer will be good through the end of July and is for USA residents only.
I try to balance my diet in as many ways as possible so that’s why when I baked a batch of these brownies, I ate 5 and called it dinner. It wasn’t my intention but I COULD NOT STOP. This is also a PSA that you’ve been warned as to how addicting these brownies are.
I don’t care if they don’t have butter or sugar or your regular flour; they taste like pure GOLD and I inhaled them without any regrets.
So let’s talk ingredients, shall we? I always love having this little convo with you because often times I’ll get asked about substitutions in baking, especially when it comes to coconut flour. That little gem of a flour is a tricky SOB.
Coconut oil: I recommend using an unrefined coconut oil. It’s full of healthy fats that keep your metabolism in full swing. HOWEVER if you want, you could sub butter. (Although then the brownies would not be dairy free.) You do you.
Coconut flour: Like I said, coconut flour is tricky. I use Trader Joe’s and swear by it but there are many great brands out there. It’s important to note that the brownie batter consistency should be on the thinner side, but not so thin that it pours like water. If this happens then you’ll need to stir in a tablespoon or two extra of coconut flour. The reason for the differences in flour is that all coconut flour brands seem to absorb liquid differently.
Nut butter: Yes, this makes a difference. Don’t ask me why, but every time I added a tablespoon of nut butter to the batter, the brownies came out MUCH better. You can use any nut butter you choose! (Note: Peanut butter is not paleo, but IT IS delicious.)
Cocoa powder: Please don’t use Hershey’s cocoa powder. Seek if you can find Ghirardelli or another version at the store. Honestly a high-quality unsweetened cocoa powder makes all the difference. You can also useĀ cacao powder for more nutritional benefits.
Eggs: Okay, I know that some of you will ask about using an egg replacer. And the bad news is that I haven’t tried to make these with a flax egg. I am guessing that it would work, but considering the amount of flax eggs you’d have to use, the batter might start tasting like flax seeds instead of brownies. I would not recommend it. Sorry!
Aloha Superfood Dark Chocolate Bar: Just delicious. FOR REALS. Feel free to use the entire bar if you’d like. This recipe only calls for half (about 1.1 oz).
I hope you LOVE these coconut flour brownies! If you make them, I’d love for you to snap a picture and tag #ambitiouskitchen on Instagram so I can see your creation.
ALOHA GIVEAWAY!Ā
You can enter in the widget below for your chance to win a prize pack from Aloha. Trust me, you’ll love their products — from plant-based protein powders to chocolate, they are ALL amazing!
Superfood Chocolate Chunk Paleo Coconut Flour Brownies
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
- 3 eggs, at room temperature (IMPORTANT)
- 1/2 cup pure organic maple syrup (Grade B is best)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon almond butter (or any nut butter of choice)
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (TJ's or Ghirardelli is good)*
- 1/4 cup coconut flour (I used Trader Joe's)
- 1/2 of an Aloha Superfood Chocolate bar (about 1.1 oz), coarsely chopped into chunks
- Coarse sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8x8 inch pan with coconut oil or spray with nonstick cooking spray. In the bowl of an electric mixer (you can also use a food processor or do it by hand), add coconut oil, eggs, maple syrup, vanilla and almond butter; mix on medium speed until well combined.
- Note: IT IS SO important that you use room temperature eggs in this recipe. If you do not, the coconut oil may solidify and your wet batter will become chunky looking. If this happens, you can place all ingredients in a saucepan over medium-low heat and whisk until the coconut oil melts again; this may take about 5 minutes. Once coconut oil has melted again and the mixture looks smooth, remove from heat immediately and transfer back into the bowl of the mixer.
- Next add in cocoa powder and coconut flour and turn mixer on low speed. Mix until ingredients are well combined. Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle chocolate chunks on top then smooth top with a rubber spatula.
- Bake 13-18 minutes or until knife comes out clean in the middle. They may look underdone but if they knife comes out clean, then they are done! Mine were perfect at 15 minutes. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
- Cool pan completely on wire rack before serving. Makes 12 servings. Brownies are also delicious when cold; they get extra fudgy!
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Disclosure: This recipe is sponsored by Aloha as part of the #SummerSWEATSeries. I love the integrity of their products and think you will too! All text and opinions are my own. Thanks for continuing to support the brands that make Ambitious Kitchen possible!
Can you substitute avocado oil instead of coconut oil?
Sure!
Made these brownies for my chocolate loving husband. We didn’t have the superfood chocolate bar, but we put other toppings on and it turned out delicious! Loved how easy the recipe was. Thank you for the tip on re: melting the coconut oil if the eggs made it chunky– I had to do that but it only took a minute or two to fix on the stove. My husband also thought they tasted better out of the fridge š
Another winning recipe, thank you!
Perfect! So glad you enjoyed!
Quick and easy to make! Was worried about the texture so reading the Notes section was very helpful! Good flavour and nice texture.
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed š
Just made these. First time using coconut flour, was a bit hesistant but these brownies did not disappoint! Thank you!
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed!
I did not like this recipe at all. I find the result product too dry and flavour-wise kind of distasteful. I baked it for 14 minutes so I donĀ“t think I over-baked.