Almond Flour Brownies with Chocolate Frosting

Tonight, I am going to share with you one of our all-time favorite GAPS recipes. It is not a nourishing broth, a probiotic-filled fermented food, or something otherwise healing and healthy.

It is a recipe for chocolate frosted brownies.

After we had been on the GAPS Diet for some time, I began to look for a good dessert recipe that I could take with us when we visited friends for special occasions. While I was never ashamed to be on a special diet or the fact that it was helping all of us be healthier, I did wish to have a special treat for my boys when they would see other kids gobbling down the jelly beans, ice cream cones, and brightly colored confetti cupcakes.

Thankfully, my youngest son (who had become intolerant of most of the foods we fed to him) quickly gained back these foods as his gut began to heal. Prior to the GAPS Diet, nuts tended to make him “nuts”, so we avoided them all. Within the first 3-6 months, though, he was able to tolerate nuts without any behavioral reactions. Thus, after finishing Intro for the second time (which ended up being a little over 1 year from our initially starting the GAPS Diet), he was tolerating all foods just fine, and we introduced cocoa powder.

My boys LOVED these almond flour brownies. I only made them on special occasions, which served to make them even more special. They never even looked at what others were eating for their dessert anymore. And when I would bring a dish to pass at a picnic, I would make regular gluten-filled brownies alongside the brownies that my boys could eat – and everyone would eat the almond flour brownies and leave the other ones! (I ended up saving a couple for my boys ahead of time so that they wouldn’t miss out as everyone was eating their brownies 😉 )

Fast forward another year and a half, and I have discovered an improvement on this original recipe: chocolate frosting. While my oldest son likes his brownies plain, Mommy definitely makes sure her piece is frosted (and frozen), as this was my favorite pre-GAPS treat. Who says special diets are restrictive!?

The original brownie recipe can be found on the blog of Grain Free Foodie. It’s pretty amazing!

Almond Flour Brownies with Chocolate Frosting

2/3 c. raw honey
1/2 c. melted butter or coconut oil (we prefer the coconut oil, as it adds a nice coconuty flavor)
1 Tbs. vanilla
3 pastured eggs
1 c. almond flour (I prepare the nuts first by soaking as described here)
1/2 c. cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. sea salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease an 8×8 glass pan lightly with coconut oil.
2. Mix the honey, butter/oil, vanilla, and eggs together well. Then, mix the dry ingredients together (almond flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and sea salt). Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and mix together well.
3. Pour mixture into your baking pan and smooth with a spatula.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of your brownie pan comes out clean.
5. Allow to cool completely. Frost if desired. If frosted, store in the fridge or freezer, as the frosting tends to be soft.

Chocolate Frosting

2 ripe avocados
1 large ripe banana
1/4 cup raw honey
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. sea salt
About 4 Tbs. full fat coconut milk

1. To make the frosting, place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Start with about 2-3 Tbs. of coconut milk and slowly add more as needed until you reach the desired texture and consistency. Add more than 4 Tbs. if needed.
2. Frost brownies when cool. (This recipe will make more frosting than is needed for the brownies; we usually save the extra in the fridge and eat it as chocolate pudding).

Enjoy!
~ Alicia

“All you need is love.
But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.”
~ Charles M. Schulz