I’m so sorry.
INCREDIBLY sorry.
I have been M.I.A. for a month. I need to grovel and ask for your forgiveness….
soooo….. I made brownies.
Nothing says I love you and I’m sorry for being away like chocolate + butter + nuts. Am I right?
I’ve been a little off kilter lately and super busy with life and work. It became increasingly difficult to find additional time (and motivation) recently for posting new recipes. Maybe it was lack of sun and seasonal depression. So I took a break. I went back to just cooking for the fun of it. I stopped worrying about whether or not it was good enough for the blog or whether I had to cook it at the right time so that I had enough natural light to photograph it. I just cooked for me.
I think I go through this every winter. I have to realign myself with what is important to me. Give myself a new focus. In turn, I have also given this blog a renewed purpose.
I want to thank those of you who reached out to me and encouraged me to continue cooking and creating in this space. I received some lovely emails and words of encouragement. This is supposed to be a space of creativity and sharing. I want this space to be several things moving forward and not just a food blog. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely still want it to be a space where my inner grandma gets to cook, feed others, and then sit back and bask in the joy of nourishing the one’s I love. But I also want to focus on discovering, exploring, and escaping comfort zones.
Thank you for letting me cook for you and provide nourishing recipes for the past three years. Also, thank you for giving me satisfaction and fulfillment.
And with that…. let’s talk CHOCOLATE AND BUTTAH AND HAZELNUTS.
Get out that good butter and good chocolate. Turn on your oven. We are also going to throw in hazelnuts into our brownies to add some flare!
V.D. is coming up… I mean, Valentine’s Day. And what better way to celebrate your loved ones and friends (or just you) than to serve up a plate of uuuuuuuhmazing gooey gooey brownies. These brownies are adapted from a past recipe of mine (Paleo Flourless Brownie Bites) and a recipe from my favorite pastry chef, Dave Leibovitz. The results are fabulously out of this world. But, as LeVar Burton would say…. Don’t take my word for it. Make them yourself and share the love.
Flourless Brownies (Grain Free)
- 6 tablespoons salted butter (or use unsalted and add 1/8 teaspoon salt)
- 10 oz semi-sweet chocolate chunks
- 2 eggs (room temperature)
- 2/3 cup coconut palm sugar (or unrefined cane sugar)
- 3 tablespoons arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 2/3 cup chopped nuts (I used roasted hazelnuts)
- coarse or flaked sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 8X8 baking dish and set aside.
- Add coconut palm sugar, arrowroot powder, and cocoa powder to the bowl of a food processor. Process for about 1 minute to make sugar mixture super fine. Set aside.
- In a metal saucepan over medium heat, melt butter until it begins to crackle. Add 2/3 of the chocolate chunks (about 8 oz) and remove pan from heat. Whisk constantly until chocolate is completely melted. Add eggs one at a time and whisk constantly.
- Pour chocolate mixture into food processor with sugar mixture. Process for at least one minute. Mixture will be glossy and thick. Add 1/2 cup of nuts and pulse once or twice to distribute. Use a rubber spatula and spoon out mixture into greased baking dish. Sprinkle remaining nuts, chocolate chunks, and flaked sea salt on top. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 F, or until just set. Do not overtake.
Note – If you do not have a food processor, then you will need to adapt the recipe slightly. Add the sugar to the butter and chocolate mixture before you add the eggs. Remove the saucepan from heat. Add eggs one at a time, then add sifted cocoa powder and arrowroot powder straight to the saucepan. Stir with a whisk briskly for at least 1 minute until the mixture becomes glossy and begins pulling away from the sides of the saucepan. Stir in your nuts and then spread the mixture into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts and chocolate and bake as directed above.
BIG EATS tiny kitchen 
I’m glad to have you back. Granted, brownies make up for any and all indiscretions, but I don’t believe you have committed any here. I go through the same thing sometimes, and the only way through it is just to wait it out and do what you can to remember why you started the blog in the first place- for the love of cooking.
LikeLike
These will definitely be my VD treat – they look delicious 🙂 Thank you!
LikeLike