People are always so sceptical when you tell them that something is a healthy alternative. Especially of something as delicious and decadent as brownies. Before they try them, they are convinced that they will taste horrible or they will have some kind of alien ingredient that has them retching. These little bites of joy as here to prove those people wrong. They contain ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen and they are very quick and easy to make.
When you say something is healthy to someone, their response is usually “Great – so I can eat 10 of these?!”. Well, no, just because they are healthier than the usual brownies you are used to, does not mean that you can eat them all day every day. As always, it is about moderation. The nuts in them can make them high in calories if you eat too much. But, with no flour or sugar, they are definitely a healthy alternative.
I say they are an alternative to brownies, they are similar to cheesecake as well with the crumbly base and the gooey and fluffy topping. Seriously, I can’t over how great these are. They are kind of a combination of my brownie bites and a variation of the healthy chocolate dessert.
Another great thing about them, is that they are kept in the freezer. This means that you can just open up the freezer and cut yourself off a slice as and when you want some. You don’t have it sitting in the fridge reminding you that you have to eat it all before it goes off. This makes portion control a lot easier.
There was such a huge response on the Facebook page to the picture of these, with lots of people guessing what was in them and people convinced they had beans or lentils or avocados in them. None of those ingredients are in site. So, here is what actually IS in them.
Ingredients – Makes 16:
-150g/1 cup almonds (you could use a mixer of almonds, pecans and walnuts too)
- 30g/Quarter of a cup of cocoa powder and another 60g/half a cup of cocoa powder
- 3 tbsp water
- 4 tbsp shredded coconut
- 150g/1 cup of pitted dates
- 4 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp orange essence or juice from an orange (you could use mint or any other flavour you like, but I really like the combination of chocolate and orange. You could leave it out altogether as well.
- 4 tbsp almond butter (you could use any nut butter you like).
- 2 bananas
1) Put the almond, 30g/quarter of a cup of cocoa, coconut and dates in a food processor and process until it forms a crumb like consistency. Mix in the water.
2) Tip this mixture into a brownie pan and press down with your hands so it is packed down.
3) Put the rest of the cocoa, honey, orange essence, almond butter and bananas in a food processor until smooth.
4) Spread onto the pressed crumb mix and then put it in the freezer.
5) Whenever you want a bit, take it out of the freezer and cut a piece off and put the rest back in the freezer. You can eat it straight out of the freezer if you like the brownie to be a bit harder or if you want it softer, leave it for 5-10 minutes before eating. It is delicious either way.
Nutritional Information per piece:
Calories: 135
Carbs: 20
Fat: 6.5
Protein: 3.6
Sugar: 13.1
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
what can I use instead of the dates?????
These sound amazing… I am going to make them this weekend. I do have a question. You say they are 135 calories per piece, how many pieces do you but this into?
At the beginning of the recipe it says it makes 16 so I would guess that 1/16th would be 135 cal…
What can you sub for nut butter if you are allergic to nuts?
I just made these and had to substitute unsweetened cocoa for cocoa powder in the topping. I know that I will make these again, and when I do, I will make them in muffin tins with liners to make it a little easier to get out of the pan and eat!
ps – my official review of them i posted about: http://www.fitmama4lyfe.com
So. Delicious. Best dessert for my birthday ever!!! and so easy my husband can make them for me
I made these this week, I added protein powder into the base and upped the dates to 250g. They were amazing! I cut into 35 small squares so they are like a popper before a workout!
Oops. I just read it wrong. Sorry!
This might be a silly question, but what do you mean by cocoa? What’s the difference between cocoa and cocoa powder? I’m in the U.S. and so perhaps it’s a different name for something that I’m familliar with?
r u able to leave the almond butter out at all? i cant find it or any other nut butters at my local supermarket?
I made these tonight and don’t think they’ll make it to the bake off charity we are doing at work tomorrow…. too good!!
I liked that you used honey instead of white sugar. Good job! Never thought of including dates ether.
I like to make healthier alternatives to unhealthy foods I love
I have 1 word for you…YUMMY!!!
Yummy they most certainly are!
Awesome Look out Cadburys.
I am sure they don’t feel threatened!
Awesome recipe!!! I’m going to try this!!
I will warn you – they won’t last long. I made a big batch that was meant to last a couple of weeks. Needless to say they definitely didn’t make it that far!