Peanut Butter Brownies

February 18th, 2010

If you don’t know somebody in your life right now who can’t eat wheat, consider yourself lucky.

Every day it seems that another person I know finds out that they have either a wheat allergy or celiac.

Being a celiac myself, it means that I can’t have even the tiniest bit of gluten, which is found in wheat and other grains. The smallest crumb will make me sick.
It can make eating out a real pain. Believe me when I say that I can’t even eat a salad if it had croutons and they were picked out. The crumbs left behind will leave me in a mess! Yes, it sucks but such is life.

And because a lot of people are so far removed from baking and knowing what ingredients that are used to make our foods I get asked if I can eat; crackers or “white” bread. Too funny!

If you do know somebody then you might like to bake them up this special recipe. Even if you can eat wheat you might like this flour alternative.

The ingredients are very simple.

1 cup peanut butter (it MUST be natural with no added sugar or fat! and a good brand is best)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon baking soda or powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg

Just dump them all into a bowl and stir.

Put into a 9×9 inch pan. An 8×8 inch pan will work also.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes at 350. I know that is a huge difference in time but it really depends upon your oven. Sometimes I make these in my little toaster oven and it browns the top more, like it did in this photo, but if I use my regular oven they cook faster. If you bake them too long they will get dried out.

If you have no problems with dairy you could sprinkle some chocolate chips on top while it is still warm and spread them around after they melt. But I usually prefer to add about 1/2 cup of chocolate chips into the batter before baking.

They are delish!!!

The ingredients are simple and this is very easy to make. You can also substitute the honey for granular sugar and bake them as cookies.
One time I made the cookie recipe and used a store brand of peanut butter and they didn’t turn out as well. Sorry store but something went terribly wrong that time. I usually use the stuff we get at Costco and it works well.

When Josh, one of my son in laws, is around he can (and will) usually eat the entire pan.

If the somebody that you are baking for can’t eat dairy, be sure and get the dairy free chocolate chips.

Give it a try and let me know.

I am working on some quilting projects but they are top secret so I can’t tell you yet. Shhh!

Elisa

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Huckleberries, Coconut & Chocolate

August 23rd, 2008

gluten free brownie

I have the strangest diet.

Because of my inability to eat wheat and a lot of other grains I have to use substitutions that will seem strange to some people. Most flour substitutes are bland or they just aren’t that good for you.

I use a lot of Coconut flour, it is very high in fiber and has a lot of protein but it can be a bit difficult to learn to cook with. Because of the high fiber content you can’t just substitute it for regular flour.

You may know somebody who has Celiac or gluten
sensitivity. Share this recipe with them. They will thank you. Or eat these yourself and enjoy the high fiber, low carbohydrate treat all disguised in a chocolate goodie!

What do huckleberries have to do with this? Well, I have been distracted lately with huckleberry picking. The berries are only ripe for a very short time so it is pick them now or wait until next year. Even though I have a lot of projects to work on, the huckleberries must come first. At least that’s the story and I’m sticking to.

So with all of these delicious huckleberries around I needed to add them to my chocolate brownies and pretend that I am a classy chief in an expensive restaurant. And now I will present you with my creation. Enjoy!

Elisa’s Chocolate Coconut Espresso Brownies with Huckleberry Sauce

3 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup almond flour

1/3 cup coconut flour (sifted – it gets a lot of lumps)

6 T. cocoa

2 T. coconut oil (or butter if you can have dairy)

1 t. baking powder

2 t. vanilla

1/4 cup espresso or strong coffee, cooled

Mix all ingredients and put in a greased 8″ x 8″ square pan. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes at 358 degrees.

Huckleberry Sauce

Take about 1/2 cup fresh or frozen berries and place in a small pan. Add about 3/4 to 1 cup water and 1/4 cup honey (add more to make sweeter). Simmer on the stove for 15 minutes. Stir and smash most of the berries. I then use a fiber called glucomannan to thicken the sauce. I use 1 teaspoon. You could also use cornstarch as a thickener.

Let cool slightly.

When the brownies are done you can cut into squares and drizzle with the sauce. Add a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream if desired. Garnish with fresh berries.

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