Brownies for Breakfast

One of my FAVORITE desserts is the humble brownie. I had to give up brownies for quite a while while nursing and because I'm trying to avoid dairy, processed sugar, and most gluten. Through my dabbling in raw food, I've found some fairly reliable 'dessert' substitutions you can eat without fear, as it's just fruit and nuts in various combinations. It's still dessert, but it's one of the healthiest kinds of desserts I know. I should mention that I do not fear dietary fat. I think everyone needs dietary fat, varying in amount from person to person, for everything from producing hormones, helping the body utilize certain vitamins, to being used as building blocks for cells, hair, etc. If you're looking for something 'low-fat', this recipe isn't for you. If you want something easy (minimal time, minimal ingredients, healthy, whole ingredients), then this is for you. This recipe doesn't use anything but nuts, fruit, cacao (unsweetened chocolate), and a little sea salt. The frosting is similar, minus the nuts. I like my brownies to taste like chocolate, so you may want to reduce your cacao if you don't like dark chocolate. The recipe is SO SIMPLE.

Soak 3/4 cup dates in water, and while you prepare the rest of the mixture. Place 1 cup raw walnuts with 1 teaspoon sea salt and 1 cup of cacao in the food processor. I don't soak my nuts, no comment BigDaddy, but if you'd like, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt. Pulse the ingredients until the nut particles are to your liking. I prefer a small particle, so I process at least a minute, if not more. Remove dates from soak water and place in the food processor. Process until a 'dough' ball forms in the processor container. Remove 'dough' and press into a glass dish of your choosing. I like thicker brownies, so I double the recipe and use a 9x13 glass dish. Place the brownies in the fridge for an hour or freezer for half an hour to set, remove, devour.

Now, I'm not big on the taste of dates, so the cacao hides it nicely. A small brownie is very satisfying. I get something sweet, chocolately, and with good fat, so it's satiating. I don't have the impulse to stand over the pan and eat 1/2 the pan, like I did with conventional brownies.

If you want frosting, you melt 1/2 cup of coconut oil and add 1/2 cup of cacao and stir. This is intense chocolate, so you can add date syrup/paste or some other form of sugar to cut the bitterness. The more 'solid' you add to the mixture, the better it handles conditions outside of the fridge, ie higher ratio of coconut oil equals runny mess.

Question of the Day: What's your favorite dessert?