A couple weekends ago, Mia and I were both craving dessert. I wanted to make a citrusy and dense almond flour cake, whereas Mia was craving some sort of  chocolate filled dessert. Realizing that neither one of us wanted to completely abandon our cravings, we decided to do what all great relationships are founded on – compromise. 

We decided that we were going to make almond flour brownies. We set out to make a dense, moist and chocolatey dessert that would satisfy both of our desires. Instead of using cocoa powder, we thought it would be fun to bake with unsweetened chocolate to bring an extra rich texture to the brownies. We also used coconut sugar instead of regular sugar to bring an extra level of chewiness to the brownies. These brownies are delicious out of the oven, but are even better the next day after being stored overnight in a tupperware. I hope you enjoy these rich brownies!

Active time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 8 oz unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
• ½ cup coconut oil, melted
• 3 eggs, and one additional yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 300g coconut sugar
• 1 cup almond flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 oz white chocolate, chopped
• ⅓ cup chopped walnuts
• Unsweetened coconut shreds, to top

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Fill the bottom of a medium saucepan with a shallow layer of water and bring to a boil. Place the unsweetened chocolate in a medium heat safe mixing bowl. Once the water begins to boil, place the bowl with the chocolate on top of the saucepan and whisk until fully melted. Watch out– the bowl may get hot with the steam, so grip it with a kitchen towel. 
2. Take the melted chocolate off the heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Once cooled, add in the oil, eggs and vanilla and whisk to incorporate. Then, add in the sugar and combine using a rubber spatula. 
3. Add in the almond flour. In order to avoid any chunks of almond flour sticking together, sift the flour into the chocolate mixture and combine along with the baking powder and salt. 
4. Take a moment to stop and feel the consistency of the batter; if it is too thick, feel free to add in 1-2 tbsp of almond milk. It should be a very thick batter, but not so much that it is unmaneuverable. 
5. Mix in the white chocolate and the walnuts. Bake in either a parchment-lined 8×8 baking pan, or, if you don’t own one like me, in a parchment-lined cast iron skillet. Cook for 28-34 minutes. The brownies are done when a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean. Cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire rack and letting cool completely. Enjoy!