Healthy Fudge Brownies and a Diet Confession

There is something I need to confess – I have been eating eggs and some dairy (not a lot because I can only tolerate certain kinds). I have been debating on whether or not to share on here, since every other recipe has been vegan – minus a little drizzle or honey or two. But I finally figured, there are so many other recipes I want to share with you, and some of them might include a bit of greek yogurt or an egg. It took me a long time to decide to make this shift, much like it took a long time to decide to remove these from my diet – so I thought I would share it with you, as well as a recipe that can easily be veganized. 

1) I buy my eggs from a local farmer/friend, so I know where they come from and how the chickens are treated. These eggs taste fantastic and help support the local community.

2) Dairy has been the cause of some digestive trouble in the past decade – or so I thought. After parting ways with wheat and gluten, I realized I can tolerate low-lactose kinds of dairy without any trouble at all.

3) I still don;t drink milk. It honestly grosses me out. I don;t like the taste of it and I love the taste of dairy alternative milks, ice creams, certain cheeses, and

4) I wanted to cut back on processed foods. I felt I was looking towards soy/tofu for many egg-based dishes, leaning to processed cheese and yogurt, and overall eating out of season and more processed than I liked. Eggs and yogurt are whole foods – I choose yogurt that has little to no added ingredients, flavors, or preservatives.

5) My body was telling me I needed it. I started craving (local) eggs. I didn’t feel deficient in anything, I just wanted an egg. With asparagus or spinach and a honey mustard sauce.  And I realized – it was winter, I was cold, my body needed to warm up and get grounded, protein is the best way to do this Ayurvedically.

6) I still love and promote a vegan diet. I think it has more good than bad and is one of the healthiest diets in the world when you can keep it plant-based with limited processed foods. Most of my recipes stay vegan, but I also like to add yogurt to a smoothie or eat eggs in my veggie sandwich/salad.

So no judgement please. Just the acceptance that we all eat the diet that is healthiest and right for our specific body and our specific needs.

Now onto the Fudge Brownies.

We had a workshop at the yoga studio in town recently, and I was asked to make some healthy treats – both savory and sweet. I made a cheeseball from the Oh She Glows Recipe Book Bonus Bundle (*Side note, this recipe book just came out today and it is going to be fabulous!! Go get it ASAP :)), hummus that actually tasted great and you might see on here soon, and healthy fudge brownies. The reason these brownies are healthy- for you AND the planet- locally sourced eggs, sustainable sourced chocolate chips, black beans for protein, and coconut sugar for slight sweetness without the blood sugar spike.

Fudge Brownies: 

Makes approximately 12-16 brownies, depending on how you cut them. 

3/4 cup coconut oil, softened

2/3 cup sustainably sourced chocolate chips OR cacao nibs/dark chocolate, unmelted

1/2 cup of same chips, melted

3 large eggs OR 3 chia eggs (2-3 tbsp chia seeds with 1/2 cup water)

1 1/2 cup coconut sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup coconut milk, plain and unsweetened

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/4 tapioca flour

1/2 sorghum flour

1/2 teff flour

1/4 brown rice flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt chocolate chip with coconut milk in a double boiler OR stir frequently. If you re using a chia egg, prepare it by pacing seeds in a bowl with water to absorb and form your egg. Drain and rinse your beans and blend them until pureed. Set aside in a bowl. Add oil and whole chocolate chips to your blender. Blend until they start to combine. Add in eggs (chia or chicken), melted chips, coconut sugar, and vanilla to your blender. Blend until smooth. Add in the black beans and puree again. Add in the flour slowly and blend until combined completely. Pour into a brownie pan or two bread pans, ether greased or lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle a few chocolate chip on the top if you’d like to jazz it up a bit 😉 Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let cool for 30 minutes before cutting and serving.

Enjoy!

Leave a comment below and let me know what diet changes you are making currently or have made in the past that caused some controversy. Or just share a pic of your brownies 🙂

Peace and Love,
Jessi