These dark chocolate brownies are lightly-sweetened with dates and packed with other Paleo perks such as coconut oil. photo provided courtesy of elanaspantry.com

These Paleo brownies are simply unbelievable- moist, chocolatey, and full of gluten-free goodness. They will knock the socks off of even the most die-hard gluten-full brownie lover. All of my taste testers said they could not believe these Paleo Brownies were not only gluten-free, but grain-free as well.

Sweetened with a mere seven dates in the entire batch of brownies, and a bit of stevia, these Paleo Brownies are also full of rich coconut oil and dark chocolate. And when I say “dark chocolate” I mean super dark chocolate –as in 100% cacao with no added sugar.

I tested this fudgey dairy-free dessert with two different brands of 100% chocolate, using Ghirardelli in some batches and Life Opening Chocolate in others; both worked equally well. Ghirardelli is cheaper, and Life Opening is organic.

ingredients
• 1 cup blanched almond flour
• ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 4 ounces baking chocolate (100% cacao)
• 7 Medjool dates (1/2-2/3 cup) pits removed
• 3 large eggs
• ½ cup coconut oil, melted
• ½ teaspoon vanilla stevia

directions

1. In a food processor, pulse together almond flour, salt and baking soda
2. Pulse in squares of dark chocolate until the texture of coarse sand
3. Pulse in dates until the texture of coarse sand
4. Pulse in eggs
5. Pulse in coconut oil and stevia until mixture is smooth
6. Transfer mixture to a greased 8 x 8 inch baking dish
7. Mixture will be very thick, smooth with a spatula
8. Bake at 350° for 18-22 minutes
9. Cool for 2 hours, then serve

makes (16) brownies

When you make these brownies be sure that your dates are not hard and too dry or you will end up with a crumbly mess. Mine were beautifully moist which helped the batter come out perfectly. Don’t use dates that have been sitting around for months.

recipe courtesy elanaspantry.com