A week without sugar. No problem, it’s one week right? Fuck no. The sweet white devil is my downfall and my personal challenge this week is to cut it out of my diet. Lately I’ve been dipping into the candy stash at work a little bit to much, and it’s been wreaking havoc on my anxiety and hormones.
Carbs to, I love those babies. I’ve flirted with the idea of the Keto diet (see fullfatfriendly for more info on that) to try and break my “addiction” to those carbs; but with my hypothyroidism, I’m hesitant to start on a new fairly restrictive diet without more information (generally low/no carb diets are a no no for those with thyroid issues, from what I’ve read). Regardless I need a break from the empty carbs I’ve been eating. Not a big deal, since I love oatmeal, but what about those chocolate cravings?
Enter this recipe, found and altered from this recipe from www.ambitouskitchen.com. I altered it to take out the honey and switched the applesauce out for pumpkin puree, because it’s fucking fall and if Pumpkin didn’t find it’s way into my cooking soon I felt like my middle-class white girl card would be revoked. Also, it’s a mother fucking superfood and the bastards were on sale for $1 a can. Score.
One reason I liked this recipe was the simple ingredient list. No weird flours are called for and the bulk of the brownies are from the zucchini. Vegetables and chocolate, all at once. Disclaimer: These are not very sweet, at all. They are good, so suck it up and learn to love that bitter side of the Chocolate life. It’s a complex food, appreciate all it’s aspects.
Let us begin:
- 1/2 cup all natural unsalted peanut butter
- 2 Tbl. Stevia Sweetner
- 3/4 cup Pumpkin Puree
- ~2-4 Tbl. Unsweetened Almond Milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup gluten free oats
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon Pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups Finely shredded zucchini
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (vegan if desired), divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 8×11 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Place oats in blender or food processor and process until finely ground. Don’t worry, it doesn’t need to be perfect but it should take a few minutes. Set aside.
- In a Food processor, cream together peanut butter, Pumpkin Puree, Stevia, Almond Milk and vanilla until smooth. Add in zucchini, cocoa powder, ground oats, baking soda, and salt; mix until well combined. If batter looks dry, add in more Almond milk, 1 tablespoon at a time. Gently fold in 1/4 cup of chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared baking pan and sprinkle remaining chocolate chips over the top. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until tooth pick inserted into middle comes out almost clean.
- Cool brownies completely on wire rack then cut into 20 squares. Enjoy!
Adapted from www.ambitouskitchen.com.
The Vain Sloth 