These gluten free superfood brownies are packed with goji berries and cacao nibs and baked to chewy fudge-brownie perfection!
If you’ve read any posts on here from previous Septembers you know my thoughts on this whole “summer ends after Labor Day” thing.
If not, let me summarize: it’s capital B, capital S.
*This post is sponsored by Nuts.com
It’s still going to be like 80-90 degrees for as far as the weather forecast goes out, the water at the lake is still warm enough to swim, wake board and paddle board, I’m going on a girls beach weekend trip on Thursday and zucchini, tomatoes and even stone fruits are still delicious as heck in the grocery store.
So…if you came here expecting apples, pumpkin and all things fall today, sorry, I’m just not quite ready. All in due time.
Not that these superfood brownies scream summer or anything, in fact, they’re quite an all-seasonal kind of dessert, I’m just sayin’, I’m not playing that fall game quite yet.
They’d actually be really great for Valentine’s Day dessert!
So, this weekend some moron decided to come around the turn on the road we live on and just not turn their car with the actual road. Instead, driving up on our property, across an embankment, over our driveway and directly smack into our mailbox, completely taking it out and scattering our mail (because I’m horrible at getting it on a daily basis) all over the road apparently seemed like a better idea.
Oh, and then they drove away like it never happened.
Ulysses was out for a run when this happened, I was at the gym and so our nice neighbors collected our mail and called the police.
Of course, it was a fruitless endeavor. The driver will likely never be found and we just get to spend the time, effort and money putting in a new mailbox thanks to him (most likely) a. texting b. speeding and/or c. being high.
I’d put my money on (a) if I had to though.
The funny part of this whole thing is how we both reacted to the situation:
Me: gets voicemail while at the gym that said incident occurred. Flips out, tells everyone, can’t focus for the remainder of the workout, comes home like a bat out of hell and starts yelling – not at anyone in particular, just at the situation and the unfairness of it all.
Him: comes around the corner on his run to see neighbors and police standing in our driveway and mailbox pieces everywhere, calmly gives necessary information to cop, pulls remainder of mailbox post out of the ground, goes to Home Depot and buys a new post, box and numbers, tells wife “it is what it is” and goes about his day.
Meanwhile, 6 hours later I still have steam coming out of my ears while standing over the sink emotionally eating superfood brownies.
I seriously wonder on a daily basis how we’ve made it almost 10 years married.
I’d have killed me by year 2 at the latest.
When it comes to brownies, I’m a chewy fudgy girl all the way (like this fudgy paleo skillet brownie).
Life’s really too short for cake-like brownies.
I don’t even know why brownie boxes give you that option. Those sort of statements should be banned.
I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: If you want cake, make cake, don’t make a brownie.
I’ve never been a huge fan of nuts in brownies, I just don’t want stuff taking up the place of where chocolate could be. You know?
But, I love the texture and crunch the nuts give which is what gave me the idea to load these superfood brownies up with all the texturally fun (healthy!) things like goji berries and cacao nibs but mostly on top and not in the brownie itself.
It’s the best of both worlds, you get that fudgy chocolate brownie chewiness with the crunchy packed top. The goji berries give you a hint of superfood sweetness and the slight bitterness of the cacao nibs goes perfectly with the generous sea salt sprinkling.
I didn’t add protein to these, but you absolutely could for even more “superpowers”. Or, try these protein brownies which are also fantastic!
For an egg-less vegan version very similar to these, try this vegan black bean brownie recipe.
And for the keto folks, this is the best keto brownies recipe I’ve found!
Nuts.com is a one-stop shop for your pantry and you’re gonna want to make sure you have some goji berries and cacao nibs on hand for the next time you need to emotionally eat your way through a stupid life situation.
Trust me.
Love these superfood brownies?
Try this Paleo Salted Chocolate Chip Cookie Skillet, Dark Chocolate Kahlua Coffee Bites or Tart cherry fudge thumbprints for more decadent chocolate desserts!
Superfood Brownies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cacao powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste, or vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 + 1 tablespoon gluten free flour blend, or regular all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon goji berries, divided
- 3 tablespoons, cacao nibs, divided
- 1/2 tablespoon sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line an 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper.
- Combine the coconut oil, coconut sugar, melted chocolate chips, cacao powder and salt in a large bowl. Whisk until well combined.
- Add the vanilla bean paste and eggs and whisk again until smooth.
- Add the flour, gently stir until fully incorporated into the batter and no streaks remain.
- Add 1 tablespoon each of the cacao nibs and goji berries and fold into the batter until just incorporated.
- Transfer the batter to the baking dish, spreading evenly into the corners.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until edges are set and start pulling away from the parchment but the middle is still somewhat soft. *About 5-7 minutes before brownies are done baking, sprinkle the remaining goji berries and cacao nibs on top. If you do this at the beginning, the goji berries will char a bit instead of remaining bright red.
- Remove brownies from the oven, sprinkle with the sea salt and let rest in the pan until completely cooled.
- Once cooled, remove the brownies by pulling the parchment out of the baking dish and cut into 12 pieces.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
These are delicious! I love these types of things and they make a nice brownies on the go!
I was just looking for something new to make so I could get a bite to eat. It looks tempting!
So I baked these and they smell DELICIOUS but taste a little too salty. Granted I may have messed up the proportions somehow (the recipe may be good, may have messed up myself) but they are quite salty. I’d recommend reducing the salt portion.
There’s only 1/2 teaspoon in the recipe so I’m guessing the saltiness you’re not liking is from the sea salt on top. Just use a little less next time, glad you enjoyed them otherwise!
Great recipe! I am glad I read the reviews first though, because I believe the salt proportion should be 1/2 a teaspoon instead of 1/2 a tablespoon as mentioned on the recipe. I agree that it would have been too salty otherwise.
Umm, YES please! Cacao nibs are one of my favorite things on earth. Def making these this weekend.