I did my research, so I know you can find tons of brownie recipes out there – because who doesn’t love dark, fudgy, yummy brownie bites? To accompany a mug of my favorite morning latte… And yes, there are lots of diet-friendly brownie recipes, too, that are sugarfree, or lowcarb, or glutenfree, etc. I needed the ultimate, diet-friendly brownie that can do all that: be sugarfree, glutenfree, dairy-free, egg-free, vegan and lowcarb.
I used to bake lowcarb zucchini-coconut brownies, that were sugarfree, lowcarb, even paleo friendly. However, due to coconut flour, not as fudgy as you’d expect a brownie to be. So I planned to develop an egg-free, vegan brownie that is suitable for my vegan friends, and compatible with my low carb diet – still as fudgy as can be.
I used to bake lowcarb zucchini-coconut brownies, that were sugarfree, lowcarb, even paleo friendly. However, due to coconut flour, not as fudgy as you’d expect a brownie to be. So I planned to develop an egg-free, vegan brownie that is suitable for my vegan friends, and compatible with my low carb diet – still as fudgy as can be.
I experimented with some ways to substitute eggs in cakes likes this. I did pretty good with Rapunzel flaxmeal eggs. (I’m mentioning the brand name this time, because they make the most finely ground flaxmeal that I know of: much finer than what I can achieve with my little coffee grinder at home or the other brands I know.) I used to make “flax eggs” by gradually adding some tablespoons of water to a tablespoon of flaxmeal, while whisking continuously.
Some time later, chia seeds walked into my kitchen. Freshly ground, they make an even better egg-substitute than flax seeds. The consistency of “chia eggs” seemed more egg-like to me, however, this recipe worked both ways. One of the reasons I prefer chia seeds as egg substitute is that they can be kept longer whole, than already ground flaxmeal. I wrote about the nutritional values of chia seeds in my previous post.
I kept one of my key ingredients from my earlier brownie recipe: the grated zucchinis, because they provide this dessert with texture and firmness. If zucchinis are not in season, you can try substituting them with apples, just be sure to keep track of your carb intake, if needed, as apples contain more carbs than zucchinis.
Some time later, chia seeds walked into my kitchen. Freshly ground, they make an even better egg-substitute than flax seeds. The consistency of “chia eggs” seemed more egg-like to me, however, this recipe worked both ways. One of the reasons I prefer chia seeds as egg substitute is that they can be kept longer whole, than already ground flaxmeal. I wrote about the nutritional values of chia seeds in my previous post.
I kept one of my key ingredients from my earlier brownie recipe: the grated zucchinis, because they provide this dessert with texture and firmness. If zucchinis are not in season, you can try substituting them with apples, just be sure to keep track of your carb intake, if needed, as apples contain more carbs than zucchinis.
Ingredients for 18 slices:
150g or 1 1/4 cups of rice flour (white)
150g or 1 cup of almons, finely ground
2 teaspoons of ground espresso
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of salt
1 tablespoon of chia seeds, freshly ground
200g or 7 ounces of dark chocolate*
200g or 7 ounces of dark chocolate*
3 tablepoons of coconut oil
100g or 1/2 cup of plant milk (carb count is based on soy or almond milk)
1/2 teaspoon of stevia powder
1/2 teaspoon of stevia powder
1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 medium zucchini, finely grated (500g grated zucchini)**
*I used dark chocolate of 81% cocoa content (22g CH/100g). If for some reason you can’t or don’t want to use chocolate, try substituting it with 4 tablespoons of coconut oil and 3-4 tablespoons of cocoa/carob powder.
**The exact quantity of zucchini is important, because too much zucchinis, along with chia seeds, would make the brownies jelly-like. (Still tasty, though… :))
- Grind the chia seeds using e.g. a coffe grinder. Put chia meal in a small bowl, and gradually add about 6 tablespoons of lukewarm water while whisking continuously, until a jelly-like mixture forms. It should have the consistency of raw egg-whites. Set aside.
- In a small pot, mix chocolate, coconut oil, plant milk and heat until the chocolate has melted. Add stevia powder, apple cider vinegar and vanilla extract.
- Peel and grate the zucchinis, add grated zucchinis to the “chia eggs”. Add the chocolate mixture and mix well. Keep in mind, that cold zucchinis might cool the chocolate mixture, turning the coconut oil solid. (This is not a problem, just makes mixing slightly more difficult.)
- Mix solid ingredients in a mixing bowl: rice and almond flours, ground espresso coffee, bicarbonate of soda, pinch of salt. Add wet ingredients and work through well: you should get a thick paste that is still easy to smooth into a baking pan lined with parchment sheet.
Bake in convection oven at 180 C / 356 F for 40 minutes or until a needle comes out clean.
I used a small baking pan, about half the size of my oven. You can also bake this in a round shaped pan and use it as a cake base, I think a 26 cm / 10.2 inch baking form would do.
These brownies can be kept covered on the kitchen counter for 3 days, at the most. The whole portion contains approx. 200g carbohydrates, which makes 11g CH/serving. And no, they don’t taste like zucchinis in the slightest. 🙂
Will you give it a try?
This reinvented chocolate zucchini brownie recipe was shared with Allergy Free Wednesdays, Fat Tuesday and Gluten Free Friday.
Yummy! I love brownies!
You cannot not love brownies, right? 😀
If I didn't want to go out of my way to buy rice flour, would another flour do?
I haven't tried any other, but I think in this case, an all-purpose mix would do, as well.
Just starting to make this recipe. Posting back in 1 hour !!!