LARABAR Style “Brownies” Gluten/Grain Free

I have made many “desserts” that don’t have processed sugars throughout the years. Many of them my husband has described as “edible” (not the best review ever). This was the first dessert I ever made that my husband tried and responded with a smile “Yeah, you could bring these to a social gathering. But I wouldn’t call them brownies… they are more like fudge.” In reality, I don’t think they are really fudge either so I decided to call them “fudge brownies” since that’s what I imagine I am eating when I indulge in this dessert. They don’t have a true brownie consistency since they are not made with flour of any kind. They are more like a chocolate flavored LARABAR than anything else I could describe. But they really do hit the spot when I want a chocolate treat. And lets face it… when do I not want chocolate?

Ingredients:

• 3 cups walnuts
• 15 dates (pitted)
• 1/4 cup plus 2 TBS cacao powder
• 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract (no corn syrup added)
• cinnamon (dash for mixture plus some to sprinkle on top)
• dash of sea salt. We buy our Redmonds Real Sea Salt from Thrive Market.
• 1/2 cup nuts of your choice (I used macadamia nuts but almonds would be good as well)

Directions:

1. Put 3 cups of walnuts into a food processor and process until the oils release and the mixture become creamy.

2. Cut the pits out of 12 dates. (You can use any kind but many of the packaged ones have added sugar so read the label. I prefer Medjool dates. My daughter’s tummy is least sensitive to these.) Add a few dates at a time to the food processor with your walnuts. Process them all until they are blended really well with the walnuts.

3. Add cacao powder, vanilla, dash of cinnamon and dash of salt and process to blend thoroughly.

4. Add in your other nuts of choice. For this recipe I really like macadamia nuts. After adding them pulse them until they are chopped a bit but not blended entirely. You want chunks of the nuts in your fudge brownie.

5. Empty the mixture into a 9×9 Pyrex pan. Press your mixture evenly into the pan.

6. Sprinkle a little more cinnamon on top (optional).

7. You can cut them right away or store them in your fridge. I like to cut them into squares and keep them in a freezer bag in the freezer so that they are available any time we want a treat.

*Some of the above links are affiliate links.  Click here to learn more about affiliate links.