Oh, hello snow! It was only a matter of time before we got hit with a good storm this year. In fact, we got thunder-snow with whipping wind, lightening and rumbles of thunder. Pretty cool, if you ask me.

Since we were all trapped indoors and businesses were closed, it was the perfect time to make some comfort foods. For whatever reason, meatloaf has been on my brain. I picked up some grass-fed ground beef, used whatever veggies I had on-hand and threw together a delicious meatloaf dinner. Of course, this cozied-up, snowy day wouldn’t be complete without some chocolaty brownies.

The brownie recipe I used is from a recent post by The Roasted Root. They are dairy-free, flourless, and the base is made from chickpeas. Very similar to a black bean brownie, actually. What gave me the idea to make these was the lonely can of chickpeas that has been sitting in my cabinet from before I tried the Ketogenic Diet. Now that I have incorporated beans back into my diet, they might as well be use up in a dessert!

Since I am eating no to very low sugar, I decided to use Swerve in place of coconut sugar. Swerve is a sugar substitute that has very little to no effect on your blood sugar. It also doesn’t have that bitter taste that other sugar subs can have. It replaces regular sugar 1:1 in recipes, but I find it to be very sweet tasting and usually will cut it in half. That’s what I did for this recipe.

Though they came out a little flat (humph), they were still delicious! Not sure if there is something wrong with my oven, but nothing seems to be rising well lately. Could be that the temperature isn’t exact anymore. Finicky things sometimes, aren’t they?

Chocolate Chickpea Brownies ~ slightly modified
Yields 16

1 (15.5 oz.) can chickpeas, rinsed well
2 eggs
1/3 cup Swerve (2/3 cup for sweeter brownies)
1/3 cup cacao powder
3 tbsp melted coconut oil
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp alcohol-free vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Optional: chopped nuts and/or chocolate chips (I didn’t have any this time, but they’d be excellent additions)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper and grease lightly.

Add all ingredients to a food processor or blender, except for the nuts or chocolate chips if using, and blend until you have a thick, smooth batter. Stir in the nuts or chips.

Pour batter into baking pan and spread into an even layer. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the center of the brownies have set. Be sure to not over bake, a toothpick will not come out clean in the middle which is normal.

Remove brownies from oven and place on cooling rack. Allow them to fully cool before cutting. Serve on their own or with a drizzle of nut butter, like I did, to make them extra decadent. Enjoy!

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t eat that whole stack. These chocolaty brownies were exactly what I was looking for on this snowy day. The chickpeas add protein and fiber, cacao has antioxidants, and they’re completely sugar-free. Who says comfort food can’t be good for you?

For the original recipe, please head over to The Roasted Root, and don’t forget to check out more of Julia’s recipes.

xx Tammy