Lately, I’ve come to realize that I’m much more likely to do something if I write it down. I’m also more likely to go through with something if I tell someone about it. When it comes to working out, I have a chalkboard frame that I made a while ago with a weekly schedule on it hanging in the room I do my indoor work outs in; I’ve noticed that if I don’t update it, I tend to be less motivated to actually do something. I feel like I’m held accountable when it’s in writing, or I give someone my word.
Being held accountable is sort of how this recipe came out of my kitchen. Alex kept commenting on how I haven’t seemed very motivated with the blog lately, and so of course immediately I got to wondering why that was, and I realized I just wasn’t that inspired to make anything. I told him I’d get on it, and immediately went looking through my bookmarked and pinned recipes to see if there was anything that caught my eye. For whatever reason, I can’t seem to get my mind off of brownies these days, so I wanted to try my hand at a flax brownie that Carolyn over at All Day I Dream About Food made.
Because I can’t leave well enough alone (and I didn’t feel like making oat flour), I adapted this recipe a good bit to suit my tastes, using a combination of coconut oil and butter, adding instant espresso, subbing out the oat flour for almond flour, and using truvia in place of erythritol. While these brownies are definitely good and fudgy, the flax does give it an interesting flavor, so it may not be for everyone. As long as it’s chocolate, I usually end up enjoying it, and the addition of chocolate chips really boosts the chocolatey flavor a good bit. I’m definitely a fan of these!
I love how these are so high in fiber and good fats. And without any sugar (other than what is in the chocolate chips), I am pretty okay with having these at any point of the day. Any excuse to have more dessert is fine by me!
My most recent brownie were these gluten free brownies made primarily with almond flour. Should I take a break with the brownie recipes? Haha.. I’ve been having a lot of fun with them! What is your favorite brownie – fudgy or cakey?
GF Flax Brownies
heavily adapted from All Day I Dream About Food
makes one 8×8″ pan
3 T coconut oil
3 T butter
3 oz. dark chocolate
1 T instant espresso
1/2 t vanilla
3/4 cup ground flax seed
1/2 cup almond flour
1/4 cup truvia (or 14 packets)
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Melt the coconut oil, butter, and dark chocolate together, either in the microwave at 30-second intervals or on the stove. Once melted, stir in the instant espresso and vanilla. Set aside. In a medium bowl, stir together the ground flax, almond flour, truvia, baking soda, and salt. Whisk in the eggs, and then stir in the melted chocolate mixture, until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into a parchment lined 8×8″ pan, and smooth with a spatula. Bake at 350ºF for 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before cutting into squares. Store in an airtight container.