Brownies with no flour, no eggs and no butter? Believe it
Oh no, Don, not more brownies?
Yes, but these are really different.
How about no flour, no eggs and no butter brownies?
When I saw that recipe at thecookingfoodie.com, I clicked on it to see what they looked like. The picture convinced me that this brownie checked all of some folks’ dietary requirement boxes and looked tasty — very tasty.
I downloaded the recipe and decided to make it, with some significant changes.
The recipe required two cups of rolled oats. I only use organic oats for what I consider a really good reason. As far as I know, there is no such thing as GMO (genetically modified) oats. However, the production of non-organic oats can use Bayer AG’s (previously named Monsanto) Roundup. Roundup is a glyphosate-based herbicide. Bayer’s Roundup can be used as a desiccant on oat crops.
A desiccant, according to the internet, acts as a drying agent to kill the plant (such as oats) and dry out the crop for harvest. It ensures uniform drying and enables earlier, more efficient harvesting.
Not wanting Roundup along for the ride, I used organic rolled oats that were also regeneratively farmed. All good.
This recipe uses real maple syrup instead of sugar. Cup-for-cup, maple syrup contains slightly less sugar and slightly more calories than cane sugar. However, maple syrup has a long list of nutrients (like potassium) that sugar does not supply. That’s a decent trade.
That recipe also called for 2 cups of milk. I went with a newer version of milk: A2/A2 milk. A2/A2 milk is easier to digest than regular milk, and I went with organic A2/A2 whole milk.
The recipe’s website suggested (not to gild this lily) that chocolate chips could be added. That sounded like an excellent idea, and I used a new product: ChocZero Baking Chips.
ChocZero Baking Chips are available on the ChocZero website or through Amazon. ChocZero does not use any artificial sugar substitutes or sugar alcohols to sweeten its chips. They use Monk fruit-based sweetener and real vanilla. Those chips deliver fewer calories (60 versus 67 per tablespoon) and about the same amount of fat. The plus: Choc Zero delivers zero sugar, whereas real chips deliver 7.6 grams of sugar per half ounce.
Instead of using butter, this recipe opts for peanut butter. I sprayed the measuring cup with a touch of oil to get the peanut butter to release more easily.
Bottom line: How were my new brownies? They were very soft, and the oats made them chewy in a good way. They had a good chocolate flavor and didn’t carry much of the maple flavor, but more of the peanut butter flavor.
As I write this, I’ve been nibbling away on them.
Give them a try.
• Don Mauer welcomes questions, comments and recipe makeover requests. Write to him at 1leanwizard@gmail.com.
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Flourless, Eggless, No-Sugar-Added Brownies
½ cup peanut butter
½ cup real maple syrup
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups organic rolled oats
¼ cup natural cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
⅓ cup sugar-free chocolate baking chips
Place the oven rack in the middle position and begin heating the oven to 350°F. Spray an 8-by-8-inch baking pan with neutral oil and set aside.
Add the peanut butter and maple syrup to a large mixing bowl and whisk together until combined. Add the milk, salt and vanilla and whisk until combined. Add the oats, cocoa powder and baking powder, and stir until well combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir until well combined.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes or until set. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes 16 brownies.
Nutrition values per brownie: 230 calories (55% from fat), 14 g fat (3.8 g saturated fat), 21.8 g carbohydrates (16.8 net carbs), 10 g sugars, 5 g fiber, 7.7 g protein, 3 mg cholesterol, 104 mg sodium.
— Adapted by Don Mauer from a recipe on thecookingfoodie.com