Super Chick Brownies

Happy Snow (Fri)day! What a treat to have the day off of teaching, and be able to catch up on some me-time.

New Roommate and I started off the day by shovelling a huge chunk of the parking lot for our apartment, as she unfortunately did not get the day off of work. Then we had to shovel some of the road... and then had to push the car... 'twas an adventure! A muscle-building one! And it was my first snow-shovelling experience, to boot!

After that chilly exerting start to the day, what else was there to do but take a hot shower, catch up on some work, watch a documentary on Netflix (Vegucated - pretty good! www.getvegucated.com) and plan some delicious baking project.

Today, coming off of PMS days and craving comforting snow-day food, brownies were on the menu. I didn't have sweet potatoes or black beans on hand, but I did have some leftover chickpeas. Hmm... chickpeas in brownies... a quick 'google' showed that this had been done, and quite scrumptiously, before!

This led to the creation of my first from-scratch vegan brownie recipe, as none of the complete recipes I found really attracted me. They pack a power punch of protein and fibre with the chickpeas (and don't worry, you can't even taste the chickpeas!!). The fresh berries add the juiciness and antioxidants that no healthy person should be without in every meal... or dessert ;)



Mia (cat) is ready to get her paws on these! ;)

SUPER CHICK BROWNIES

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chick peas
• 1/4-1/2 cup water
• 4 oz unsweetened chocolate
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• Many blueberries (1/2 cup? 1 cup? go nuts!) *
• 7-10 large strawberries, finely diced
• 1/4 cup honey (preferably raw)
• 1/2 cup oat flour
• 3/4 cup sugar or sucanat
• At least 2 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup cacao powder (raw)
• 1/4 cup almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground coffee (optional)

* I left the blueberries whole, as I love the sensation of the blueberries bursting as you bite into the chocolate, but you could blend the berries in with the chickpeas if you prefer to keep the texture smooth!

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
• Lightly oil (coconut) and flour a baking pan, to prevent sticking
• Place chick peas in food processor with 1/4-1/2 cup of water and blend until smooth (I mashed mine, as I have an irrational fear of food processors)
• Melt unsweetened chocolate with coconut oil
• Combine chocolate/oil with diced strawberries, blueberries and honey, until mixture is evenly coated
• Add flour, sugar, cinnamon, cacao powder, almond milk, vanilla extract and baking powder (and optional coffee), and mix until blended (if mixture becomes too dry, add a touch more almond milk)
• Pour into baking pan and spread out evenly
• Bake for 35-45 minutes, until firmer, and an inserted toothpick or fork comes out clean
• Remove from oven and cool in pan, then cut into desired size of squares

Enjoy, and stay warm and well!

N.