Terri's Chocolate Brownies

My eating of late has been 90% fantabulous just judging from how my shorts keep falling down today ;-)). It would be 100% EXCEPTIONAL if a) I didn't sneak some traditional carbs - pasta/ cereal when no-one was looking or b) was initiated into the miracle that is Justin's Chocolate Almond Butter. This is basically like nutella but healthy nutella AND it has my name on it so get your orders in quick ;-))

I would love to say that this great eating track record of late is all down to me and that I am finally a reformed character but actually it's all due to fitting in with the eating habits of much healthier people around me. I am (not so secretly) FASCINATED by what SUPERhealthy people eat - and my Texan friends fit the SUPERhealthy category to a Texan 'T'-Bone.  Best of all they have been kind enough to invite me to dine with them - something about preventing the men in white coats from visiting me too often (kidding!!) so I have had the opportunity to openly 'spy'.

My biggest revelation is how simple and easy my fave Texan duo's delicious meals are to create. These guys are bonafide Paleo converts but are practised at it and their meals actually make sense.  I don't know about you but whenever I try a new eating regime - RANDOM CRAZINESS is the name of the game. It takes me ages to figure out what works with what, what 'allowed' combinations I actually like and what is just plain edible!

I got to dine with the Texan duo and their family last night and the menu was as follows:

• Grilled grass-fed Bison (Buffalo to you and me) - died and gone to heaven good


• An incredible salad (check back later this week for more details and my planned 'Salad Hierarchy' post) 


• An avocado and tomato side dish - yummmmmmmmmmmmmy

Then bonding over Extreme Makeover : Home Edition (my now second favourite American show after Extreme Makeover : Weightloss Edition) - I got to chow down on some incredible chocolate brownies made by SF's Mom. This lady is so sweet, eek - has read my blog, clearly shares a passion for anything chocolate and does Crossfit too. Well just my new BFF!!

Terri was even kind enough to share the recipe for her lovely PALEO and yummy chocolately brownie creation and I found this gem in my inbox this morning so I just had to share IMMEDIATELY. Eat these chilled. Sooooooooo, soooo good, I even went back for (gasp) thirds.

Chocolate Brownie

(Sorry I didn't take a pic of Terri's actual masterpiece)

But eating Terri's Paleo Chocolate Brownies you would be forgiven for thinking you were actually eating these

Ingredients:
2 cups whole walnuts
2 ½ cups Medjool dates, pitted
1 cup raw cacao / cocoa (I had & used an unsweetened Cocoa powder / Hershey or Nestle)
1 cup raw unsalted almonds, roughly chopped
¼ tsp. sea salt

Directions:
1. Place walnuts in food processor and blend on high until the nuts are finely ground.
2. Add the cacao / cocoa and salt. Pulse to combine. 
3. Add the dates one at a time through the feed tube of the food processor while it is running. What you should end up with is a mix that appears rather like cake crumbs, but that when pressed, will easily stick together (if the mixture does not hold together well, add more dates). 
4. In a large bowl (or the pan you plan on putting the brownies in), combine the walnut-cacao / cocoa mix with the chopped almonds. Press into a lined cake pan or mold. Place in freezer of fridge until ready to serve (it is also easier to cut these when they are cold). 

I have only ever made this recipe cut in half ... SO GOOD!

PLUS SOME REALLY USEFUL INFORMATION (A quick explanation by someone on the internet)  


Raw cacao powder is NOT the same as cocoa powder

Raw cacao powder is unadulterated and contains many more nutrients than traditional cocoa powder. It's sold mostly via health food stores and online retailers. Just google raw cacao powder to find retailers like rawguru.com, vitacost.com, and livesuperfoods.com which all sell the product (note: this is not an endorsement of any retailer). Many of these retailer sites also promote the benefits of "raw cacao powder." Many recipes are also found on the internet for such things as a banana cacao smoothie. Cacao in its natural state contains no sugars. Ehow.com describes the difference between raw cacao powder and cocoa powder this way:

"Pure, unsweetened cocoa powder tastes very bitter and rich, which is why it is most often used in sweets and confections. To get cocoa powder from the cacao bean, the nibs are first ground into a strong paste. The fat is removed, and the remaining solids are ground up again into a fine dust: cocoa powder. Because of its drying properties, using cocoa powder in a cake often requires the use of more shortening or butter in the recipe.

According to FDA guidelines, cocoa powder and cacao powder are simply different terms for the same powder, and are nearly interchangeable; however, "cacao powder" specifically refers to raw, unsweetened powder. "Cocoa powder," on the other hand, may still have a very small amount of cocoa butter present to enhance the flavor subtly."

Thanks Terri. I literally can't wait to have a go at recreating these - I have to do something to keep my shorts from falling down any further!! ;-)) xx