Chocolate Chunk Raspberry Brownies

So I wasn't prepared to post this recipe because I was like "this is the biggest guessing game ever and it probably won't work out too well" but YOU KNOW WHAT. I have too little faith in myself! These were really gosh darn tasty, if I do say so myself. And then I was like "ugh but they could be even better than this, this could be just mediocre for their potential…" but so many lovely folk asked for a recipe anyway so you know what? I just decided to give it a crack and post it and see (if any of you make them) what you think, if they are good enough.

 Warning: because of the raspberries, part of the mix might appear a bit more moist and wet than the rest of it when it's fully cooked. Don't panic, it's just the fresh fruit playing part. You'll just have a little moist bit in the brownie when you bite in… so delicious. 

Ingredients: 

1 cup of almond meal (either make your own or store bought) 

2 tbsp of olive oil (you could use any oil but I like olive oil in baking) 

1 cup of dates, pitted (can be chopped if you like) 

3-4 tbsp of cacao powder (depending on how rich you like your brownies) 

1/3 cup of rice flour and 1/3 cup of buckwheat flour (experimenting with the flour combos is okay, just make sure you're ready to adjust liquid amounts!) 

1 tsp vanilla essence 

2 tbsp baking powder 

2/3 cup of applesauce (you could probably also used mashed banana if you like, or flax eggs even) 

2/3 cup almond milk (I think I added a splash more during the mixing process, play by ear) 

Optional: maca powder (as much as you like if you're using it, really) 

My add-ins (also optional and you could add nuts or whatever else you wanted to) raspberries and Loving Earth dark chocolate, chopped 

Method: 

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celcius. 

In a blender,  combine your almond meal, dates, oil, cacao, maca and vanilla until it makes a biscuit crumble-like mixture. 

Combine blended ingredients with the rest of your ingredients (except your raspberries, if you're using) and adding the milk slowly and mixing whilst adding, until a desired consistency is reached. Mix in half the raspberries until combined.

Pour mixture in a baking tin/ loaf tin, pop on top a few raspberries and spread evenly and allow to bake for 20-30 minutes.  

Tip: don't remove the brownies from the tin for at least 1-2 hours after baking, to prevent lots of cracking. 

AND ENJOY. I personally ate them really quickly because I love brownies… but up to you. Freeze them if you want them to last longer, so you can always have a little snippet of heaven ready for you when you are. 

Lots of love!