As I sit here on this gloomy, rainy day, I’ve been thinking to myself, “What better time to write about my new dessert escapades than right now!”
It’s true…earlier this week I decided out of nowhere that I wanted to learn how to bake, and that I wanted to learn how to bake things that I’m able to actually eat! Since this decision, I’ve been going a little crazy trying out a bunch of dessert recipes. For some reason, I’ve decided that most of these baking sprees should be done late at night. Normally around 11pm, I’m getting ready for bed and I’m asleep by midnight. But my clock is all over the place since I’ve returned home from Sweden, so now when it's eleven I’ve been saying to myself, “Maybe I should try to bake something!” Who am I?
Honestly, I’ve never been a huge sweets gal, so when I started on the anti inflammatory diet years ago, removing refined sugar was a little hard, but not the hardest on my list since I was never a huge cake, cookies, pies kind of gal. (I did love ice cream though…that was a tough one!) However, I’ve recently been going a little crazy in the morning for vegan donuts. After all these years of being sugar free, out of nowhere I’ve developed a bit of a sweet tooth!
Y’all, it’s bad. But hey, I’m human, too! While I’m generally very diligent when it comes to what I put in my body, sometimes I break down and eat a vegan donut. I’ve started this habit when I get my coffee after I go for my morning run. The coffee shop I go to sells Girls Gone Vegan pastries (vegan pastries aren't the easiest thing to come by in New Orleans, so if you're in the area, definitely check this company out!), so I almost always lose the battle with myself and I end up buying a donut.
The positives are that Girls Gone Vegan uses almost all the ingredients I could ask for. Obviously they are plant based, and they are also gluten free (huge bonus!), but the problem is, while they do offer a few sugar free options, these bad boys have refined sugar in them, which is not good when you are trying to stick to an anti inflammatory diet.
I’ve been vegan now for a little over two years, and one of the things I’ve found the hardest to find is not just vegan desserts and pastries when I’m out and about, but vegan, gluten free, AND refined sugar free desserts and pastries! The trifecta is hard to come by. So recently, I’ve been looking into different recipes so I can create treats at home and not rely on others to make them for me!
Luckily there are tons of recipes out there if you are willing to take a little time in the kitchen. I’m going to be trying out different recipes that look interesting to me, and I’ll post some of my favorites here for you all to check out and enjoy! I’m hoping the joy of this continues and I’m brave enough to venture in to creating my own ideas down the road!
So, without further ado, onwards to the delicious chickpea brownies I made a few days ago. I actually made these in the daytime…my only baking endeavor that has seen the light of day so far! I loved that the ingredients list on this was short and simple. A great introduction for me with baking.
You will never believe these were made from chickpeas! In case you are dubious about trying this recipe, there is no hint of chickpea flavor, just delectable chocolate brownie goodness. They are so light and fluffy and chocolatey. I was actually shocked at the texture and flavor….be sure to have one when they are fresh out of the oven. Warm and melty brownies are the best, and these did not disappoint!
I made sure to share these with some of my friends and they absolutely loved them. Share away or eat every last morsel, I won’t judge you!
I hope you enjoy these brownies as much as I do. Making these was a total introduction into my baking life, and now I’m excited to try these again, but adding some other treats to it! I’m thinking walnuts...a sea salt sprinkle on top...maybe cayenne to spice it up a little bit….if you mix up the recipe, let me know how it goes!
Happy baking!
M
Note: I found this recipe at www.erinliveswhole.com and you can find her whole recipe here! Please be sure to check out her page!
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Ingredients:
1 15oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup almond butter (or your choice of nut butter!)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 Tbsp coconut oil (melted)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup almond flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Instructions: 1. Preheat your oven to 350°F
2. To begin with, you are either going to need a food processor or a nice strong blender. I love my Vitamix blender! (Side note: they are pricey, but worth every penny...you won't regret getting one, I promise!) It blends anything and everything, and it worked great for this recipe. You’re going to start by blending your chickpeas, almond butter, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and maple syrup until smooth.
3. Once you’ve done this, it’s time to add the dry ingredients! Add your almond flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to your mixture.
4. Blend once again until smooth. (I found that when I blended the second time, it was hard to get it all mixed together in the Vitamix, so once I was sure it was smooth enough, I took it and transferred it to a mixing bowl to do one final stir and make sure that everything was blended together perfectly.) Once everything is in the mixing bowl, it’s time to add the chocolate chips! I used Enjoy Life semi-sweet mini chips, which are vegan and absolutely delicious! (Be sure not to blend the chips, you want them whole so they can get all melty and yummy when you bake your brownies!)
5. Pour brownie mixture into a greased baking pan (I didn’t have a brownie pan or a square pan, so instead I greased a 10” pie dish with a little bit of earth balance so the brownies wouldn’t stick to the pyrex, and then I poured in my brownie mixture.)
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes (I checked mine at 23 minutes and they were perfect!)
7. Cut and serve!
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