Maple-Roasted Nut Butter Brownies (Recipe)
A brownie combination never sounded so good! If you're going to treat yourself to a nice little chocolate treat, it needs to be this one!
WHAT YOU NEED
- 250g/8oz (approx. 2 cups) mixed nuts, roughly chopped*
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp coarse sea salt
- 4 tsp ground flax + 3 tbsp Water
- 1 1/2 cup (155g) Sieved Almond meal*
- 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp (85g) sieved oat flour
- 1/2 cup (60g) cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp arrowroot or tapioca flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 75 g/2.5oz dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids) + approx. 25g/1oz for topping
- 6 tbsp (80g) coconut oil
- 1 cup (150g) coconut sugar, ground*
- 1/4 cup (60ml) almond milk
- 1/2 tbsp instant coffee (optional)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
What to do
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F, spread the chopped nuts on a parchment-lined baking tray and bake for 3-5 minutes. Drizzle over the maple syrup, sprinkle with sea salt and stir. Bake for 3-5 minutes longer. Cool.
- Lightly oil a 9x9" brownie pan and line with two sheets of parchment paper, going in opposite directions, for easy removal.
- Whisk together ground flax and water and set aside to thicken.
- In a large bowl, sieve together the almond meal, oat flour, cocoa, arrowroot, baking soda and salt.
- Melt chocolate in a glass bowl over boiling water, along with the coconut oil. When melted, whisk in ground coconut sugar, almond milk, instant coffee (if using), vanilla and flax mixture.
- Add wet ingredients to dry and stir well.
- Fold in 75 g/2.5 oz (approx 1/3) of the roasted nuts and spoon batter into the prepared pan. Spread evenly with a spatula and smooth over the top.
- Reduce heat to 180C/ 350F and bake brownies for 25-30 minutes. Leave to cool completely (at least 1 hr) before topping.
- While cooling, add the remaining nuts to a food processor or high-powered blender and blend until you have a very smooth nut butter. Leave the motor running for a while as it can take a bit of time.
- Spread nut butter over brownies (you may not need all of it) and chill for 10 minutes.
- Place remaining chocolate in a freezer bag and put in a bowl of boiling water for 10 minutes to melt. Remove from water and set aside for 5 minutes to thicken slightly, snip a tiny corner off the bag and drizzle chocolate generously over brownies. Leave to set completely before slicing into squares.
NOTES
* You can use any nuts here but I like the flavor of the mix I used, which included brazil nuts, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts and pecans.
* I grind my own flours using a high-powered blender which has a jug especially designed to be able to grind grains and nuts, but stored-bought works just as well.
*I prefer to use ground coconut sugar for a better brownie texture. You can also substitute cane sugar.
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