I know only to well just how hard it is to follow a healthy diet, we all have our weaknesses, it maybe cake, wine, sweets or chocolate, whatever our vice is it can add calories, chemicals and preservatives to our diets. With our bodies all ready loaded with pollutants from shower gels, shampoos, make up, mobile phones, air pollution, the list is endless, it is already hard enough to try to keep our bodies pure.

In our home we only use environmentally friendly products, from cleaning products, to washing powder to beauty products, where we can we always buy Method, ECover, Faith in Nature products, anything to keep our home as clean and pure as we can.

However, I also know that if you have a vice it can be very hard. Its hard to get through that afternoon slump without something sweet, finding quick healthy breakfasts or lunches can be so difficult, it is sometimes easier to grab something from the Supermarket, and that is why I have been bringing to you so many recipes that are not only good for you but can fill this gap.

Now this recipe for healthy brownies has been adapted from a Madeleine Shaw recipe, so please feel free to bake it her way or mine, its entirely up to you. Either way you will end up with a delicious chocolate treat that really tastes so good that its hard to believe that it is healthy! My lovely friend at work who is a keen baker herself tried one for me, she is not a brownie fan and said that she would never order one out if they were on the menu, but she said that these were absolutely delicious and she even asked for the recipe, so this is why I am starting todays write ups with this recipe.

A quick note, always use really good quality dark chocolate for a truly indulgent brownie and I think baking these for a couple of minutes less would be better and give a really nice gooey centre, but of course this will all depend on your oven, so just keep an eye on them.

Well it is another bank holiday weekend and if you fancy a spot of baking why not give these ago and I hope you all have a lovely weekend with hopefully some sunshine along the way.

Buon appetito

healthy brownies

200g of quality dark chocolate
125g of coconut oil or butter
125g of coconut sugar
4 eggs
1 vanilla bean (I used 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract)
200g of ground almonds
1 pinch of salt
1 handful of goji berries (optional)

Preheat your oven to 180 C.

Grab the chocolate and break it into pieces. Melt it on a low heat in a pot. Then leave it to the side.

Place the coconut sugar and oil/butter in the food processor and cream for a few minutes. Cut the vanilla pod in half and scrape out the vanilla.

Separate the eggs into egg yolk and whites. Pour the yolks, chocolate, a pinch of salt, almonds and the vanilla bean into the food processor and process until combined. Pour this into a large bowl.

Whisk the egg whites until fluffy. Fold the whites into the chocolate mix and stir gently.

Grease a small cake tin with coconut oil. Pour in the cake mix and bake for 20 minutes. Then remove and let cool for 10 minutes. Madeleine’s recipe was a small round cake with goji berries on the top, but as you will see from my photos that I decided to use a brownie tin. The choice is yours.

healthy brownies

Above photo – This is how Luca enjoyed his brownie, slathered in Nutella, well you can never have too much chocolate can you !!!

Note : Gluten free, refined sugar free.