Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies


For the last year I have been making Elana Amsterdam's brownie recipe. It is so perfect in taste and texture and since calls for an entire jar of almond butter it's got a good protein to carbohydrate balance for us. Everyone who tries it likes it, it is simple and fast to make so I haven't tried another in all that time. I usually cut the honey a bit and the end result is still sweet and delicious. They also tend to stay moist and pack well without getting crumbly, unlike some I've made with gluten free flours.

Elana's Pantry is such a great resource and while I have given many of my cookbooks away, I hold on two of Elana's. They are carefully written and everything I have tried has turned out perfectly.

Yesterday I used peanut butter and upped the cocoa for a little change. While the almond butter gives a mild flavor in the original recipe, the same amount of peanut butter really jumps out. The extra bit of cocoa seemed to balance it nicely. I like to sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top to dress them up a bit instead of mixing them in the batter.

Because almonds are a high salicylate food making Elana's recipe with almond butter is Feingold stage 2, this peanut butter variation makes them a Feingold stage 1, gluten free, casein free treat.

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies
Preheat oven to 325 degrees

16 ounces     Organic Creamy Peanut Butter
1 1/4 Cups.   Honey (yes, 1 and 1/4 Cups)
3/4 cup        Cocoa
2 large.         Eggs
1 teaspoon   Vanilla
1 teaspoon    Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Himalayan or Sea Salt
1/2 cup         Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

Mix everything together except the chocolate chips. I use my KitchenAid and it takes just moments. Spread into an un-greased 9 x 13 baking pan and bake. In my oven it usually takes 35 to 40 minutes.

Enjoy!

This recipe happily shared on Gluten Free Wednesdays at Gluten Free Easily.

Feingold information can be found HERE.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is that 1 1/4 cups honey?

Anonymous said...

Thanks for that catch!

gfe--gluten free easily said...

Ooooh, I know these are good, Kathyrn! I confess I was expecting a brownie variation of your Sneaky Muffins. ;-)

xo,
Shirley

Unknown said...

That reminds me of the great flourless peanut butter cookie recipe. I wonder if it would work with an extra egg and sugar instead of honey?

gfe--gluten free easily said...

Kathryn--What is the actual amount of honey? 1/4 cup vs 1 1/4 cups? A reader on my gfe Facebook page also questioned the amount.

Thanks!
Shirley

chacha said...

Jean and Shirley, it is, in fact, 1 1/4 cups. That's a lot for something I make but it works. I will experiment with cane sugar and update this post. :-)

gfe--gluten free easily said...

Kathryn--Please don't experiment with cane sugar on my account. I'm fine with that amount of honey. I just wanted to confirm for the Facebook readers and I certainly would not be eating these brownies by myself or all at once. ;-)

Shirley

dasy4me said...

can you clarify the honey amount

dasy4me said...

can you clarify on the amount of honey please.

chacha said...

dasy4me - yes, it is 1 and 1/4 cups honey.

chacha said...

Shirley, I'm always happy to experiment. :-)

Unknown said...

Can you use half honey half maple syrup? Or maybe half honey half coconut sugar?

Unknown said...

Could I use almond butter

chacha said...

Kristin, If you enjoy the flavor of maple I bet it could work. It's not my favorite but I don't think it would overwhelm the chocolate peanut butter flavor. Coconut sugar would probably be my preferred sub. I love the flavor it gives baked goods and it's a lower glycemic sweetener if I remember correctly.

Nicole, the original recipe I refereced is from Elana's Pantry and she uses almond butter. I've made her recipe a dozen times and we adore it. She uses a little less cocoa and mixes dark chocolate in the batter instead of sprinkling mini chips on top.

dasy4me said...

If using coconut sugar would it be the same amount as the honey 1 1/4 cups?

Anonymous said...

Is that sweetened or unsweetened cocoa? I usually use cacao so will need to buy some to make this :)

Gloria said...

Hi ! is there a substitute for peanut butter¿¿ I have someone in mu family who cant have peanut.... thanks so much

chacha said...

Dasy4me, I have heard different conversions between cane sugar and honey, but coconut sugar isn't quite as sweet. Texture wise I wouldn't add more, though.

I will experiment tomorrow with coconut sugar.

Anon, cacao and cocoa are interchangeable - you can use what you have.

Nike, the original recipe from Elana's Pantry was made with almond butter and it's delicious.

Unknown said...

Will be waiting eagerly for sugar sub results. Agave or coconut sugar or good old reg sugar... Decent Honey is pretty expensive to in these quantities. Also wondering if anyone has tested any egg subs with this? I can deal with egg yolks if I need to but technically I am allergic...

chacha said...

I tested coconut sugar for honey. I used one cup of coconut sugar and a half cup of water.

The texture was different. More firm, and not as chewy but the flavor was great.

They baked much quicker than with honey so start testing not much more than twent minutes in.

Stephanie, I use honey from Costco that is source certified - not good raw, local honey for baking. I don't use agave but would guess it would work as well as honey.

Next time I'll try an egg sub.