Grain-Free Brownies Two Ways
A fudgy, flourless six-egg blender brownie, and a chewy-edged, cake-like almond flour brownie with coconut sugar. Both are grain-free, refined-sugar-free, and deeply chocolatey.
Yield: 12–16 brownies per version (8x8 pan) · Active: 10 min · Total: 40 min, plus cooling · Year-round (especially cozy in winter) · Best eaten: afternoon
There are two ways to make a grain-free brownie, and both have their place.
Version 1 is fudgy, dense, and almost custardy, made from six pasture-raised eggs, raw cacao, grass-fed butter, and honey or maple syrup, with no flour at all. It’s somewhere between a brownie and a flourless chocolate cake: silky, dense, and deeply chocolatey, with a slight wobble in the center while it’s warm.
Version 2 is the familiar, cake-like brownie, made with almond flour, coconut sugar, coconut oil, and dark chocolate chips, with crackled tops and chewy edges, much like a bakery brownie.
Both are far more nourishing than a flour-and-sugar brownie. Raw cacao is one of the most polyphenol-rich foods there is, pasture-raised eggs bring fat-soluble vitamins, and grass-fed butter brings butyrate and vitamin K2. And with all that fat and protein, a small square truly satisfies a chocolate craving, rather than leaving you reaching for more.
Version 1: Fudgy Six-Egg Blender Brownies
Flourless, dense, and custardy. Three minutes of mixing, and 30 minutes in the oven.
Makes 12–16 brownies
½ cup raw cacao powder
½ cup grass-fed butter, melted
½ cup raw honey or maple syrup
6 large pasture-raised eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
Pinch of Baja Gold sea salt
Optional: 1 cup dark chocolate chips (70% or darker)
Prep. Heat the oven to 350°F, and line an 8x8 pan with parchment.
Blend everything except the chocolate chips in a food processor or high-speed blender until completely smooth.
Pour it into the pan, and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top, if using.
Bake 30–35 minutes, until set at the edges and slightly soft in the center.
Cool completely before slicing, for clean cuts. (They’re delicious warm too, just messier, and closer to chocolate pudding.)
Version 2: Almond Flour Brownies with Coconut Sugar
Cake-like and chewy-edged, with the classic brownie texture.
Makes 16 squares
½–¾ cup coconut sugar
⅔ cup virgin coconut oil, melted
⅔ cup blanched almond flour
⅔ cup raw cacao powder
2 pasture-raised eggs, plus 1 yolk
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
¼ tsp baking soda
¾ cup dark chocolate chips (70–100% cacao), divided
Prep. Heat the oven to 325°F, and line an 8x8 pan with parchment, leaving an overhang for lifting.
Mix. Process the coconut sugar, coconut oil, almond flour, cacao, eggs, yolk, vanilla, salt, and baking soda in a food processor until smooth.
Add the chocolate. Pulse in ½ cup of the chocolate chips, leaving them a little chunky.
Pour the batter into the pan, smooth the top, and sprinkle with the remaining chocolate chips.
Bake 25–30 minutes, until the top is set but the center still has a slight wobble.
Cool in the pan at least 20 minutes before lifting out and slicing.
Storage
Both keep airtight at room temperature up to 3 days, or refrigerated up to 1 week, and the texture improves overnight (especially Version 2’s). They freeze well, too; warm slices gently before serving. Version 1 is faster (one blender, no creaming) and most dramatic warm, while Version 2 holds its shape better at room temperature, for travel or a platter.
A note on honey: Honey is no longer raw once it’s baked. Honey shouldn’t be given to babies under 12 months.
Nourishment Notes
Raw cacao is the heart of both brownies, and it deserves to be taken seriously, since most modern chocolate has little to do with the cacao that Mesoamerican cultures prized. It’s one of the richest food sources of magnesium and ranks among the highest foods for antioxidants. Its flavanols, especially epicatechin and catechin, are linked to healthy blood vessels and blood flow to the brain, and early research suggests they may support the creation of new mitochondria. Theobromine, cacao’s main stimulant, brings gentle alertness without caffeine’s sharper edge. And cacao brings iron, which is better absorbed alongside vitamin C. Conventional “Dutch-process” cocoa is treated with an alkali, which darkens its color but destroys much of its flavanols, so look for raw cacao powder.
The fats in both brownies are stable: grass-fed butter in Version 1, and coconut oil in Version 2. Many commercial brownies use seed oils, like canola and soybean, which are more prone to oxidizing in the heat. Grass-fed butter brings butyrate and vitamins A, D, E, and K2. Coconut oil brings lauric acid, a medium-chain fat.
Pasture-raised eggs: Version 1’s six eggs bring about 36 grams of complete protein to the whole pan, plus choline, lutein, zeaxanthin, and vitamins A, D, E, and K2, a lot of protein for a dessert. Almond flour brings vitamin E, magnesium, monounsaturated fats, and protein to Version 2, along with its cake-like crumb.
The sweeteners: Honey and maple syrup are unrefined sweeteners with trace minerals, like manganese and zinc. Coconut sugar is unrefined, too, with some potassium, zinc, and iron, plus a little inulin, a prebiotic fiber. In both brownies, the fat and protein slow the absorption of the natural sugars, and the dark chocolate chips keep the cacao high and the added sugar low.
As a circadian and seasonal food, these are best as an afternoon treat. Theobromine stays in the body for about 6–12 hours, so enjoy them before about 4 p.m. if you’re sensitive to it. They’re welcome year-round, but especially in winter, when rich, warming foods feel just right, warm, with a scoop of raw vanilla ice cream.
For your cycle: The cacao’s magnesium and iron make these especially comforting in the luteal and menstrual phases, when chocolate cravings often peak.
Sourcing
Raw cacao powder — organic, and ideally tested for heavy metals, like Navitas Organics or Terrasoul
Eggs — organic and pasture-raised, from a local farm or Alexandre Family Farm
Grass-fed butter — organic, cultured butter from 100% grass-fed cows
Coconut oil — organic, virgin, and unrefined
Almond flour — organic and blanched (keep it in the fridge)
Dark chocolate chips — organic, 70–100% cacao, ideally sweetened with coconut sugar (or unsweetened) and tested for heavy metals, like Hu or Pascha
Raw honey, maple syrup, and coconut sugar — organic, local, unfiltered honey; organic Grade A dark maple syrup; organic coconut sugar
Vanilla — organic pure vanilla extract
Baking soda — aluminum-free
Salt — Baja Gold sea salt
— Anna aka Food Marshall