Greetings! :)
I must show you something I found on my run today…
*gulp.
It was on the ground.
Below a tree.
It wasn’t alone.
They used to be green.
Now they are red and orange.
I stopped in my tracks and mumbled a word I will not repeat on the blog. I did a quick mental date check (Aug. 26th, 27th thereabouts??) and decided that this tree was clearly confused!!!!
Friends, this is a classic case of early-onset molting. If trees molted that is…
Despite this shocking scene, I managed to have a great run! I have only run once in the past week so my legs were definitely rusty, but it didn’t take that long to get into the groove.
I am currently looking at a half marathon, 10k, and 5k race in the next couple of weeks, but I can’t decide what distance I want to do! Votes? :)
Oh do I have a treat for you on this lovely Friday evening….
Tonight I was looking through my Sweet Freedom cookbook and I came across a recipe for Ultra Fudgy Brownies.
Ultra.
Fudgy.
Brownies.
We are visiting family this weekend and I promised to bring dessert!
The truth is, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about brownies since I had that amazing flat brownie at Karyn’s Cooked in Chicago….
I rest my case.
Brownies it was.
Ultra Fudgy Brownies
Adapted from Sweet Freedom.
Ingredients:
- 1 small avocado (1/4 cup packed)
- 1 cup Sucanat (brown sugar might work?)
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil (reduced from 1/4 cup)
- 1 tbsp ground chia seeds (or ground flax)
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 tsp organic dark roasted coffee or instant
- 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 1/4 cup whole grain spelt flour
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp Himalayan sea salt
Directions: Preheat the oven to 350F. Line an 8” pan with parchment paper and set aside. In a large bowl, gently smash the avocado with a fork to break apart. Using a hand mixer, process the avocado until smooth. Add the Sucanat, maple syrup, oil, chia, vanilla extract, and coffee and mix until smooth. In a medium sized bowl, sift together the spelt flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix on low or stir by hand until just mixed. Stir in chocolate chips. Dump the mixture onto the baking pan. Dip your spatula in cold water and smooth out. The batter will be VERY THICK (see pictures below), so not to worry. It was difficult for me to spread out so I finally just threw my hands in cold water and smoothed it out with my hands. It worked much better this way. Once smooth, place in oven and cook for 20-25 minutes and no more. You will look at the batter and think that there is no way it will cook in that amount of time, but trust me it does. Remove from oven and cool for 20 minutes. Pop in the freezer for about 30 minutes to set and firm. Remove from pan and cut with a pizza slicer. Serves 9-12.
This batter was thick and luxurious!
And very hard to spread…
But trust me on this one…it was worth the effort.
Check out how thick that batter is!
I reduced the oil from 1/4 cup to 2 tbsp so that probably thickened it up a bit. I didn’t miss the oil though…they were just perfect to me.
I ended up wetting my hands and diving in. Sometimes you gotta get dirrrty in the kitchen!
Ah, much better.
After baking 25 minutes, cooling, and setting in freezer:
Get rollin’.
I used a 9 inch pan because I was going for that flat brownie look. They turned out great!
9 large squares…
Mmmm.
I had to try one of course. ;)
I could only have 1/2 of one because I need 8 for our get together and I saved the other half for Eric! :)
Verdict = IN THE VAULT.
Seriously amazing brownies. Good work Ricki!
I’m dreaming of having these with some banana soft serve or vegan coconut ice cream.
How do you like your brownies? Thick, gooey, soft, dense, crisp, chunky, smooth, doughy, cake-like, rich, all of the above?
To me the perfect brownie is gooey, but not too gooey. It also has to be dense, but not sickly sweet and over powering. These brownies fit the bill.
Well, we are off for the night. I will see you in the morning. :) Enjoy your evening.
Chocolate coma! Mmmmm
Go for the half marathon! Don’t think about it too much… just go ahead and do it!
Those brownies look beyond amazing! Like my idea of a perfect cookie, my perfect brownie is gooey in the middle and just a bit crispy on the edges. Enjoy spending time with your family!
Angela you must stop with the glorious desserts!!! I am making your apple pie burritos tonight, I can’t wait to give them a try!
Have a great night!
hope u like them!
I’ve heard of adding bananas and apple sauce to brownies but not avocado. As a self-proclaimed brownie aficionado, I can’t wait to try this :-)!
OMG brownies. yyuuuuuuuuuummm!!
i was talking about making brownies soon. and now i want to make them even more.
but i want to try ones made with apple sauce, do you know of any good recipes?
I dont off the top of my head…but I think you can sub applesauce for half the butter or oil in most recipes!
smart thinking haha!
I’m a chewy brownie fan. It’s strange. I I don’t like chocolate cake, yet, I love brownies. Must be a texture thing!
I personally would love to see what you’d pace you’d accomplish with a 5K. Your pace for 5 miles is AMAZING, so I’m sure you’d rock out a really fast 5K!
I’ve been eating chocolate like it’s my job–perhaps I’ll be making these to satisfy my cravings! I love the leaning tower of brownies :)
Those look amazing Angela. I agree with Holly, you need to stop with all the amazing looking desserts. I just want to make all of them. I can’t wait to try these and and your apple pie burritos. They look so good!
oh my goodness. One of those brownies with some banana soft serve sounds PERFECT right now. YUM!
wow. those pics of chocolatey brownie goodness are not helping my hunger right now!!!
Oh my gosh! Wow!
Now I can’t decide whether to make the apple pie burritos or the brownies this afternoon! :-o
What a dilemma…perhaps I’ll just have to make both…
Mmmmm Chocolate Brownies…
Angela, I spent my entire day at work reading several blog entries on your site, and didn’t get a lick of work done all day! hee hee I am addicted and couldn’t wait for your next post and here it is! You did not disappoint. I cannot wait to make these yummy treats.
Thanks for everything you do!
Thank you!
Im glad I could provide some entertainment during your work day ;)
I have an avocado just waiting to become brownies. Brilliant!
Yay – a brownie recipe!!
I’m really picky about brownies which is sooo weird because I’m such a chocoholic. Whenever I get one from a bakery I’m always disappointed. Maybe because I like them homemade and freshly baked.
My favorite is chewy and moist and a corner piece :)
Have you ever seen that brownie pan with all edges?
Not sure if this is the same thing but I have a brownie pan that comes with a grid to separate them…I’ll have to use it next time!
This is so you get an end piece every time:
http://www.bakersedge.com/product_ebp.html
Those brownies look amazing! Drool. I vote for the 10k. If you haven’t been running a lot lately the 10k seems practical- more challenging than the 5k, but not as difficult as the 1/2.
Oh. my. gosh. Those brownies look unbelievable. They look like they are the perfect consistency! Thanks for the recipe, will definitely have to try them asap. And you just described my PERFECT brownie. Great minds think alike (and like the same brownies?)
Have a great night!
Thick, gooey, chewy and a little crispy on the sides. Huge chunks of chocolate are more than welcome to invade my brownie. There is no room for cakeyness of fluffy foo-foo in my brownie. None at all.
lol @ fluffy foo-foo
Dense, gooey, not too sweet, and ULTRA chewy.
I don’t think I could only eat half of one. Now that is some awesome restraint!
It was more like 2/3rd…I told myself it was half but when I looked at it before I gave it to him it was more like 1/3 left lol. oops
lol :)
MMM those look so dang good!!!!!!
Brownies will be on the menu this weekend. I like fudgey brownies that are not too sweet and not sticky. Whatever marathon you choose I know you will do great.