Baking brownies has never piqued my interest or taste buds much! The brownie maker for our household is Headchef, who generally uses a store-bought brownie mix, which is gluten and sugar filled, for our boys. The sweet sugary aromas that permeate our home is the brownie-passion killer for me.
Recently, our elder boy decided that he would like to try out Paleo eating…and with it comes the sweet-tooth indulgences and requested I make him some. This is a quick to put together recipe that literally takes 10 minutes in preparation time. The only pre-requisite, is having very ripe banana’s on hand, the kind that has blackening skin – these add to the taste of this brownie mix. I used raw cacao powder making these this time around as I wanted to achieve a bitter, dark chocolate taste, but previous bakes with organic, pure cocoa powder have yielded great tasting brownies. The texture of the baked brownie is feather light and spongy, and a bake that will definitely be repeated after the first attempt!
Ingredients
3 large eggs
3 medium-sized bananas, well ripened with brown spots
1 Tblsp coconut oil, melted (or ghee or grass fed butter) + coconut oil to grease the pan
2 Tblsp raw honey OR 2-3 tblsp date paste
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp Himalayan or Sea salt
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 cup coconut flour (+ more if necessary to make a firm batter)
1/2 cup cocoa powder (sugar and preservatives free) OR 1/2 cup raw cacao powder
Here’s How
- Preheat the oven to 170 degrees celsius
- Peel and add the bananas into a food processor and process until smooth
- Add the eggs and coconut oil (or ghee or grass-fed butter) and pulse well to combine.
- Add the honey, vanilla extract, date paste OR honey, salt, coconut flour and cocoa powder and mix
- If the consistency is not firm, add a little more coconut flour at a time (one tsp at a time) or simply wait a few minutes until some of the liquid is absorbed. The amount of coconut flour listed in the ingredients above, worked well in this bake and no additions were required.
- You might want to taste the batter before removing it from the processor to make sure it is sweet enough – but between the ripe bananas, date paste or honey, it should be fine.
- Prepare the baking pan or a small square pyrex or oven-proof casserole dish with a piece of baking paper to line the bottom and grease with coconut oil very well on both sides and around the perimeter of the pan. What I found easiest, is, to line the entire dish with baking paper.
- Pour the batter in to the baking and shake a little to even it out
- If not fully lining the dish with baking paper, using a spatula, go around the perimeter of the dish, and pull the batter away form the side (this helps it to not stick to the sides of the baking dish)
- Bake for 35 – 40 minutes or until slightly browned on top, springy to the touch and passes the dry skewer test.
- Allow the baked brownie to cool in the pan, then cut into small pieces, remove and allow the them to cool further.
- Serve in mini cupcake cases or store in a container and freeze for a quick snack
- These will keep in the refrigerator for one week, and in the freezer for months
