Hey! It’s Valentine’s Day! What do you lovelies have planned? Mark and I are up to our necks with house projects, this new (old) house is keeping us busy for sure. Today we’re building a fence, picket by picket! The project seemed super overwhelming at first, especially the hole digging part but last weekend we finally got into a groove and made some noticeable progress. My job was loading up the screw gun and passing the pickets, Mark would measure, level, then pop each one in place. Before we knew we had a hundred pickets in, the sun was setting and the super smoothie we had for breakfast had long since evaporated through our pores or whatever. Good thing I made a batch of these brownies the day before. Guys, these are the best and not just because you can take as many licks of the raw batter as you want – hey Ma, no eggs! They are the fudgiest, most chocolatey, rich (without that overwhelming sugary sweetness), almond butter bliss, gah… so good. Needless to say we devoured what was left of them. I think I’ll be making more this weekend.
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Step 1
Sift flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder into a medium bowl; whisk to combine and set aside.
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Step 2
Place almond butter, olive oil, maple syrup, maple sugar, soymilk, salt, vanilla, and drained dates in a food processor; blend until smooth. (It’s ok if a few small date pieces are not blended).
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Step 3
Pour almond butter mixture into sifted flour mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until almost combined. Reserve 2 tablespoons of chopped chocolate and stir the rest into the batter being careful not to over-mix. Transfer batter into prepared pan and spread out evenly.
Ingredients for Amy’s Almond Butter Brownies
1/2 cup packed, pitted dates
1 1/2 cups whole spelt flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons toasted almond butter
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup maple sugar
3/4 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons plain soymilk or almond milk
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup toasted almonds, chopped
3 1/2 oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped, divided
flaky sea salt
Directions
Place dates in a medium bowl and cover with boiling water. Let soak for 20 minutes or until softened, then drain well.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease with oil or line a 9-inch baking dish with parchment paper; brush paper and sides of pan lightly with oil, and set aside.
Sift flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder into a medium bowl; whisk to combine and set aside.
Place almond butter, olive oil, maple syrup, maple sugar, soymilk, salt, vanilla, and drained dates in a food processor; blend until smooth. (It’s ok if a few small date pieces are not blended). Pour into sifted flour mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until almost combined. Reserve 2 tablespoons of chopped chocolate and stir the rest into the batter being careful not to over-mix. Transfer batter into prepared pan and spread out evenly. Sprinkle with almonds, remaining chocolate, and a large pinch of sea salt.
Bake for 30 minutes or until edges pull away from the sides of pan and a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
Notes
Recipe from Amy Chaplin’s beautiful book: At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen
You can also find the recipe here along with her Whole Food Cooking series, which I love.