Chocolate Brownie - The Healthy version

Who doesn’t like a nice gooey chocolate brownie? It is one of those safe go to pubs that you know will be good and that you can tailor to your tastes. Chocolate brownies come with many extras, you can add nuts, dried fruit, fresh fruit, alcohol, more chocolate, white chocolate, you can even have a mint chocolate version although I am not sure why you would even ruin a chocolate brownie like that. Shame on you if you thought that was a good idea!  You can have them on their own, with cream, ice cream, custard, extra chocolate sauce, fruit cooleys. The list really is as limited as imagination.

Picture as I was preping the plate

So does that mean that chocolate brownies can also come guilt free? The answer ladies and gents is yes, absolutely and after some serious trial and error I have come to a healthier version of the chocolate brownie, that is low fat and also pretty well behaved on the sugar front too. What did I do? I replaced the fat with avocados and the sugar with honey, you can replace it with agave but I don’t have the ratios for that because I don’t like it as much as I like honey.

I tailored these to be just birm enough in the centre and super sticky in the middle. When I cook them I cook them until they are JUST cooked in the middle. They are best warm but they last a good 4-5 days and can be re-warmed, but NOT in the microwave, that makes the chocolate burn and makes them hard as a rock. Please do not microwave pastry, for the love of all that is good in the world don’t!

To make the brownies, you will need an 18 inch baking tray, some cooking spray to grease the tray and the following ingredients: 

Ingredients:

2 cups dark chocolate chips or 350gm cooking chocolate

2 medium ripe avocados, really well mashed up

2 ½ - 3 tablespoons honey*

4 eggs

Vanilla extract

¼ cup raw sugar free cocoa powder

½ cup flour**

½ teaspoon salt  

* depending on how sweet you want your brownies - for a less healthy version use ⅔ cup sugar

**  You can use ground almond for a gluten free version, I still haven’t figured out the best quantity for that but as soon as I figure it out I will update the blog

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C’ fan, 190C’ no fan, gas mark 5. Grease your baking tray and leave it to one side
2. Melt the chocolate over a bain marie (pan of hot water simmering, glass bowl on top chocolate in the glass bowl). Leave to one side to cool a little

3. 

   I made strawberry cooley 

   In a separate bowl using a hand mixer beat together the avocado and honey until smooth and well combined and then add the chocolate. This allows the chocolate to cool down enough that it doesn’t cook the eggs when you add them.
4. Add the vanilla and then add the eggs one at a time mixing well before you add the next.
5. Sift together the cocoa and flour to give it some air.
6. Beat the flour into the chocolate mix, add the salt and make sure all is mixed well.
7. At this stage you can add soft fruit such as raspberries, strawberries or blueberries. Fust them with flour or icing sugar before you pop them in or they will sink to the bottom.
8. Pour batter into the baking tray and put in the oven for about 40 minutes. Some ovens make take less some ovens may take more. Brownies can be a little temperamental this way. It also depends on how gooey or solid you want them,

 These brownies are best served warm, with ice cream, you can sprinkle some icing sugar for effect.

Bon Appetite!