Damn that title is long. But I couldn’t just say “boring old brownies”. No point of difference there. I couldn’t simply label them “raw vegan chocolate brownies” – the internet has enough of those making the rounds at the minute. I needed to add in the (nut-free) specification, because although these treats smell like they have peanut butter in them (thanks to to addition of inca inchi seeds), I assure you they don’t – hence air quoted “peanut butter”. I like the bang-for-your-buck prefix because it’s playful and sums the recipe up dandily.
On Saturday, I posted these fudgey protein balls, which are basically a delicious solution to my meat-free dilemma. That’s where most of my recipes come from. I need to include more of a certain nutrient (in this case protein) or a specific food in my diet …
but I don’t want to just “get it in” begrudgingly! Oh no, I want something totes amazeballs to knock my socks off so that I actually look forward to nourishing myself!
I would be either a very unhealthy little vegemite or a very unhappy health nerd if I had to (respectively) compromise health for taste or taste for health. I like the motto from that taco add (you know the one I’m talking about) … Why can’t we have both? Damn straight … we should have both and (thankfully) we CAN!
Anyways, I’ve gobbled up most of those scummy little gems already. Next on the agenda? I thought I’d try modifying the recipe just a tad to yield an even higher protein containing treat and create a slightly different flavour profile to avoid my habit of getting blissfully stuck in flavour ruts (I’m one of those people that can quite happily eat the same rotation of foods every day for months on end without getting bored. By then I’ve gotten far too comfortable in my (food-based) consistency and thus lack the motivation to change things up).
A delicious Brownie recipe was the result of a few tweaks here and there …
I’m really not a protein powder girl at heart, however I make an exception with the Inca Inchi variety because it’s a whole food that just happens to be powdered up and just happens to be uber high in protein (there’s no extraction or isolation of an animal or plant product … Whey Protein Isolate and Pea Protein I’m looking at you). I’ve ramped up the quantity in this recipe to (like the title suggests) giving you more bang-for-your-buck protein wise (in case you’re like me and needing sneaky ways to get more of this foundational macronutrient down your gob).
Let’s do some math. If there’s 6g of protein per 10g of Inca Inchi powder and there’s 1 cup of protein powder in the recipe (so approx 250g) that’s 25 times 6g. 150g of protein in the whole recipe. Divide that by 12 brownies and it works out to math I can’t do off the top of my head … excuse me while I go fetch my calculator) …
Okay, 12.5g of protein (on average – give or take a few grams because I didn’t weight anything when I measured it and nutrition panels are subject to variation right?) per brownie. So two brownies (because why have one when you can have two?) is 25g of protein. Oh, there’s also actual whole inca inchi seeds in the recipe too … that might actually ramp the protein content up to almost 30g for two brownie squares (again – this isn’t conclusive insert an appropriate disclaimer here)
I think for a food that is rich, chocolatey and moorish that’s pretty impressive. But it is my recipe and I am naturally a little bias, so please draw your own conclusions.
Usually, when I’m eating meat, poultry, eggs and fish most days (ahh the days of textbook perfect gallbladder health), I don’t bother calculating nutrients … I (personally) don’t think it’s the best habit to fall into. It has the potential to make you obsessive and can be a real kill-joy in terms of food enjoyment and being playful in the kitchen.
However, sometimes we need to be stricter than usual (out of sheer necessity rather than choice) and it’s important that our health doesn’t fall by the wayside because of these changes. This is when some basic calculations may come in handy.
I’m working with similar ingredients to this recipe, so if you want a mini-run-down on some of the nutritional benefits of this slice, you’ll find them in that post. The only ingredient swap I made is almonds for inca inchi seeds, which you can read more about here. Basically, here’s the elevator pitch for these brownies …
They’re high in natural protein, rich in magnesium, dense in dietary fibre, much lower in sugar than most snack/dessert recipes, provide essential fatty acids and gut-loving lauric acid (and anti-fungal caprylic acid), can help to stabilise blood glucose levels and at the end of the day, nutrition aside, are just really yummy and fudgy and nutty, without actually using nuts so nut free peeps (such as my best friend Sara) … you’re welcome!
Bang-For-Your-Buck Raw Vegan Protein “Peanut Butter” Brownies (nut-free)
- 1 cup Inca Inchi Protein Powder
- 1 1/2 cups Shredded Coconut
- 2 Heaped Tablespoons Coconut Oil
- 1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Bean Powder
- 1/2 Cup Raw Cacao Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Sea Salt
- 12 Pitted Dates
- 1 Cup Roasted Inca Inchi Seeds
Method
Combine all ingredients together in a high-powered blender or food processor and blend on high until a wet “dough” forms (the warmer the mixture gets in the blender, the softer it will be)
If you only own a cheap food processor, blend the softer, less absorbent ingredients first (dates, coconut, inca inchi seeds, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, raw cacao powder) … make a dough and then stir in inca inchi powder by hand to prevent overheating machinery.
Press into a glass dish (I used a 13 X 18 glass Pyrex Dish) lined with toxin-free baking paper (I use the “if you care” brand). It was really warm here today, so by the time I got it into the dish it was almost a pourable consistency.
Transfer to fridge to set (takes an hour or so) and then remove and cut into squares.
These will melt fast at room temperature, especially in Summer, but that shouldn’t be too much of an issue … once it’s on your plate you’re going to want to eat it pronto right? It is chocolate after all.
Notes
You can crumble the brownie slices up and use as a granola substitute to serve with organic full fat dairy yoghurt or coconut yoghurt
Don’t like raw brownies? Use the recipe above, adding in 6 whole eggs, plus 1/2 cup rapadura sugar and 1/3 cup melted organic butter (or coconut oil for dairy free) and blend on high in a high-speed blender or food processor along with 1/2 teaspoon aluminium and gluten-free bicarb soda. Pour batter into a standard rectangular brownie tin and bake in a 170 degree C oven for 30-40 minutes. This makes the lightest, fluffiest gluten-free chocolate cake ever – full of goodness but absolutely decadent!