Marike's Coconut Flour Brownies

I was browsing through photos on Instagram the other day and some coconut flour brownies caught my eye. They looked delicious, and were not only made without grains, but were also dairy free and sweetened with rapadura - just my style. So I asked hopefully for the recipe and Marike, who developed the recipe herself, was happy to share. Thanks so much, Marike! :)

Within 24 hours of getting the recipe, these were made and eaten. (Well, except for two squares I managed to hide for the next day!) They were just as delicious as they looked.

Marike converted her old faithful brownie recipe from 'flour, butter, cocoa and sugar' to 'the good stuff', and after a couple of flops, this is what she came up with. See? You don't have to feel deprived once you start eating healthy. You just have to learn how to substitute the good stuff for the bad stuff, and be willing to experiment. If you've never tried coconut flour before, don't be put off by the price - it's actually quite economical because you use a fraction of the amount you would usually use of flour in baking - it expands with liquids. If you want to save money and make your own coconut flour, take the shredded coconut that's left over after you've made coconut cream and milk with it, dehyrdrate it for 24 hours in a dehydrator, then grind it up in the Thermomix.

Marike has kindly agreed to let me share her recipe on my blog so you can all enjoy it too. Thanks so much, Marike! Here's her recipe:

And here's my Thermomix version:

Mix together in your Thermomix on speed 6 for about 20 seconds:
- 70g coconut oil
- 50g coconut flour
- 35g raw cacao powder
- 100g Rapadura
- 6 large eggs
- 1/2 tsp Himalayan or sea salt
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

If you can have nuts, add and mix on speed 5 for 3 seconds to chop and mix into batter:
- 120g raw walnuts (or pecans)

Bake at 175C for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before cutting, if you can wait that long. Bet you can't. Ha ha!!

Note: I also sprinkled the top of the brownies with dairy free chocolate chips before baking. Couldn't help myself. ;)

We enjoyed these with Cashew Honey Vanilla Bean Custard - delicious.

Sugar free variation: I also tried making these with dates and green stevia instead of Rapadura, but I must admit, the Rapadura ones tasted a lot better! But if you can't have Rapadura and need a less sweet alternative, try adding 100g raw dates (pitted) and 1 tsp green stevia powder instead of the Rapadura. You may need to cook it a bit longer, and the texture will be heavier, but my kids still liked them.