Almond Butter Brownies

[kacie tri-ing]

I just had to share these. They are really really amazing! My nutritionist is getting me away from processed carbs (which TOTALLY include brownies), and you can't even tell that these don't have flour. AND they are packed with healthy fats from almonds. I love them :D DH who is also working with the nutritionist is really into them too!

I stole it from this blog:
http://thisprimallife.com/2009/10/primal-almond-butter-pumpkin-brownies-only-5-ingredients/


Almond Butter Pumpkin Brownies

Feel free to get creative with substitutions. Try other nut butters, other forms of squash, other sweeteners, spices, mix-ins, the possibilities are endless. I made several batches using either fresh squash that I steamed and mashed or canned pumpkin. I preferred the fresh squash to the canned pumpkin, but the latter worked perfectly well and seemed appropriate for the upcoming holiday.

Consider topping with applesauce and/or whipped cream for a delicious dessert.

Ingredients:
1 cup almond butter
¾ cup mashed pumpkin or other squash, canned or steamed
1 egg
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp baking soda

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix well. Pour into a greased 8 x 8 in pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Serves 8.

[moonfroggy]

do you think they would work with egg replacer?

[OakLeaf]

oh man... I have a couple of squash left from last year's harvest that need to be used fairly soon... you evil woman! :D

Moonfroggy... I think they would work with the Ener-G egg replacer. I'm not familiar with other brands. If it were me - and this is speculating - but I wouldn't necessarily add the additional liquid to make it an egg equivalent, but I'd sprinkle the powdered egg replacer on the squash and mix it in thoroughly before adding the other ingredients - especially if you're starting with canned squash/pumpkin.

[kacie tri-ing]

Evil!:confused: These are nutritionist approved little morsels of joy:p

I'm sure egg replacer would work.

They also really help keep me full because of the almond butter fat!

[Red Rock]

This looks great. If you come across any other cool/awsome recipies, please share. Yum!

Red Rock

[PamNY]

Sounds fabulous. I'm going to try those as soon as I get to Trader Joe's for almong butter. Thanks for posting.

[kacie tri-ing]

I made a batch with peanut butter, and they were amazing!

My mom (who has been doing weight watches successfully for a long time) played with the recipe, and she used Better n' Peanut butter. Then she subbed splenda for the honey, and added extra egg (but only used egg whites). Then she added a 1/2 tsp more of baking soda, and she said it was great! Probably slashed the calories a ton if you are watching that sort of thing!

[bikermaze]

I'm a fan of brownies so I'll definitely hand this over to the DGF. But I'm not sure if she's big on squash. Are there any alternative you people can suggest to the squash?

She's not too keen on baking things she doesn't eat but... I could try to convince her. :P

[sah]

ummm brownies without chocolate?:confused::eek:

[kacie tri-ing]

The pumpkin is really nice.

Well, if brownies have chocolate and blondies are vanilla, then these with pumpkin can be red-heads :-) Reddies!

[itself]

Any nutrition info? Calories, fat, etc?

Lisa

[moonfroggy]

when i make banana bread i sometimes add cocoa powder and make it chocolate banana bread, seems to me that these could have chocolate as well.

[Eden]

hmmmm seems to me a whole bunch of fresh ginger and some cinnamon and nutmeg would be excellent in there - flourless gingerbread mmmmmmmm

[Biciclista]

ummm brownies without chocolate?:confused::eek:

Yeah, that's what i was thinking!!!

[GLC1968]

Maybe they should just be called 'bar cookies'?

If you don't like pumpkin or squash, you can often sub in an equal amount of cooked, mashed sweet potatoes.

[OakLeaf]

Oh. My.

(Except for the part about the almond butter at $15 a jar :rolleyes:)

Blue Ballet squash is perfect for these! And duck eggs from the farmers' market. :) Thank you!

[Susan Otcenas]

Any nutrition info? Calories, fat, etc?

Lisa

Plugged it into my Weight Watchers recipe builder. 1 serving (of 8) is 6 points. So, probably 300 calories or so each, mostly of which is fat from the almonds and sugar from the honey.

I'm doing a 300K brevet this weekend, and might make up a batch of these for the ride (and take only 1 or 2 along!). Concentrated, easy-to-consume energy is important on a ride that length, and I don't like to use a whole lot of bars & gels if I can avoid it. Would much rather eat an almond butter brownie!!

Thanks for the recipe Kacie!

[kacie tri-ing]

How did the brevet go? (and how were the non-chocolate brownies?)

[Susan Otcenas]

Brevet was AWESOME! Finished in 14:35. Happy camper. :-) But, I didn't have time to make the brownies. :-( Plan to do more brevets this year, though, so I'm sure this recipe will get a workout!

[ehirsch83]

Oh. My.

(Except for the part about the almond butter at $15 a jar :rolleyes:)




If you live near a whole foods, trader joes(some), co-op etc, you can usually find fresh ground almond butter for $1-3 for a 1/2 lb or so. I usually get almond or cashew (yum!!!) butter over peanut butter.

[Pedal Wench]

Brevet was AWESOME! Finished in 14:35. Happy camper. :-) But, I didn't have time to make the brownies. :-( Plan to do more brevets this year, though, so I'm sure this recipe will get a workout!

That's a great time! Aren't they addicting? (the brevets, not the brownies, although the brownies probably are too!)

[Susan Otcenas]

That's a great time! Aren't they addicting? (the brevets, not the brownies, although the brownies probably are too!)


Yup, brevets (and brownies!) are addicting. I'm good at endurance events. I seem to have figured out my pacing an nutrition. There's a 600K on the Oregon Coast at the end of May that I may take a run at.

Will *definitely* need some almond butter brownies for that one! :-)

Susan

[PamNY]

This is a great recipe! Thanks for posting it. I made it with mashed sweet potato and gingerbread-type spices and was very pleased with the results. And thanks to Trader Joe for the affordable almond butter.

I have been looking for more nutritious snacks. I have to eat so much more when I'm biking a lot, and this is a perfect addition.

[kacie tri-ing]

mmmmmm I too love this recipe! I have started experimenting with different nut butters too! I added in a little bit of Peanut Butter and Co's chocolate peanut butter in the last one (not all of it though!).

Any more similar recipes?

[OakLeaf]

I made another batch the other night with the last butternut squash of '09. I thought the original recipe was a little greasy, so I reversed the proportions of squash and nut butter - used peanut butter this time. The one thing that didn't really work, I had 1-1/2 recipe worth of squash, and used two eggs hoping to make it a bit firmer. It turned out the reverse, more like a pudding than a bar, especially in the center.

[PamNY]

Bumping this recipe because it's really, really good and I'm about to make it.

[breeze]

Also, almond butter is simple to make, if you can find almonds inexpensively. Basically just toss them In the food processor and blend for about 12-15 min. It will be dry at first, but after stopping to scrape down the sides with a spatula a few times, it will turn into nut butter. I like to toast the almonds in the oven first, to add a bit more flavor, but that's not necessary.

[Tri Girl]

I'm glad you bumped this! I'm getting ready to hike the Grand Canyon (yet again), and these will be a great alternative to bars- and I can make them vegan, too.
Thanks for the bump up. Don't know how I missed it the first time around. :)


I just made the batter with more pumpkin and a little less almond butter. I used 1T applesauce and 1t flax seed in place of the egg and added about a T of cocoa powder. They are cooking now, but the batter was yummy!!! Can't wait to try them. :)

My next batch (already planning the next), I will make with half the honey, a little less almond butter and I will add walnuts, almond slivers, raisins, dates, apricots and dried apples to boost up the nutrition factor for hiking. I may even add some oats in there. I'll probably not add the cocoa to the mix for the hiking batch (I don't do well with sweets when hiking for hours on end).
Thanks again for sharing this. The possibilities are endless!!

[lovelygamer]

Thank you!

[PamNY]

I'm glad you bumped this! I'm getting ready to hike the Grand Canyon (yet again), and these will be a great alternative to bars- and I can make them vegan, too.
Thanks for the bump up. Don't know how I missed it the first time around. :)


I just made the batter with more pumpkin and a little less almond butter. I used 1T applesauce and 1t flax seed in place of the egg and added about a T of cocoa powder. They are cooking now, but the batter was yummy!!! Can't wait to try them. :)

My next batch (already planning the next), I will make with half the honey, a little less almond butter and I will add walnuts, almond slivers, raisins, dates, apricots and dried apples to boost up the nutrition factor for hiking. I may even add some oats in there. I'll probably not add the cocoa to the mix for the hiking batch (I don't do well with sweets when hiking for hours on end).
Thanks again for sharing this. The possibilities are endless!!

Flax seeds are a great idea. I'd love to know how your vegan alternatives turn out.

[Tri Girl]

They turned out VERY brownie-like (wtih the cocoa powder, they even looked and tasted more like brownies). The vegan subs worked wonderfully. Oh, I didn't use honey- I used agave syrup instead. It tastes just the same.

For energy bars, they were way too soft, tho. I'm going to play with the recipe to see if I can't get them to be more solid and bar-like. If I can't get the recipe right, I'll just buy some Lara Bars to take to the Grand Canyon next week. ;)

[PamNY]

Great -- I will try the vegan substitutes sometime. These are a bit soft for travel -- but yummy!

[smilingcat]

just came across this thread.

The first post has a link and when I clicked on it, it came back as an "attack page". It's a page that will copy your personal information, passwords and such. Other times, they will try to leave malicious piece of code on your computer.

So please be careful. It may be a false alarm but one can never be too safe.

------------------

Will have to print out the recipe and try it out. Looks very interesting and very promising. Wondering about the texture.

[kacie tri-ing]

I was just trying to "re-find" the recipe, and found the same thing about the link. It wasn't bad when I first posted it! Sorry!

Ok--off to try the vegan substitute!

[PamNY]

Here's a "safe" version for anyone who wants the recipe:

http://mixingbowl.betterrecipes.com/primal-almond-butter-pumpkin-brownies.html