PROTEIN BROWNIE BITES

How would you feel about the taste of smooth chewy brownie fused with the performance and health benefits of your nutty protein bar? Well, I’ve created it!

This is truly a great performance snack to have at home at any time throughout the day in all days of the week. It is simple and easy to make and you’ll be very surprised about the results. When I tell you that an entire cup of tahini is in the brownie, you’ll raise your eyebrows and get skeptical about the taste. But, let me tell you, it’s GOOD and you’ll think It tastes better because you are eating something that has high nutritional value.

Performance & health benefits:

• tahini alone has great benefits. It’s full of healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals. It contains anti-inflammatory properties and antioxidants.

• almonds also contain high amounts of healthy fats, fibre and vitamins and minerals.

• it is high in protein from the tahini and almond grounds. 1 tbsp of tahini has 3g of protein. Also, 23g or about 20 almonds contain 6g of protein.

• if you use good quality dark chocolate with a high cocoa percentage, you’ll be surprised how nutritious it is. It has powerful source of antioxidants, good fats, and minerals.

• pure maple syrup is a great natural sweetener which is mainly used in the recipe. It contains antioxidant and high levels of zinc which is important in bodily functions.

If you can find tahini, give it try!

I hope you enjoy!

-Ari Yori

PROTEIN BROWNIE BITES RECIPE

prep time: 10 minutes

baking time: 20-25minutes

portion: 18 brownie pieces

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INGREDIENTS

1 cup (255g) tahini, well mixed

1/2 cup (148g) pure maple syrup (increase if you omit the sugar)

1/4 cup (35g) coconut sugar (or other sugar substitute, but recommended)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup (35g) cocoa powder

1 tbsp coconut flour (or omit, increase almond grounds)

1/3 cup (35g) almond grounds, ground in the food processor if cannot be bought directly (other ground nuts substitute)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/3-1/2cup (70g-80g) of chopped dark chocolate (above 50% cacao)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C. Grease a 26cm x 16cm baking form with butter.

2. In a large bowl, combine tahini, coconut sugar, maple syrup, vanilla extract and eggs and mix well. The texture and colour should be like melted caramel.

3. Add cocoa powder, coconut flour, salt and baking soda until batter is smooth.

4. Add the almond grounds and mix well. This should make the batter thicker and sticky. Give it a taste and see if you like the sweetness!

5. Transfer the batter into the baking pan. Unlike a cake batter consistency, this will be thick and goopy in texture. Take a rubber spatula and spread the batter evenly in the pan.

6. Sprinkle dark chocolate evenly on top.

7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Don't over-bake! When you insert the knife, make sure you don’t poke through the sprinkled chocolate as the knife will not come clean and you may accidentally over-bake.

8. Let the brownies cool completely before removing it out of the pan. Cut it into even sized pieces.

PRO TIPS

• Before you pour the tahini into the measuring cup, make sure you mix it well until well blended as tahini separates when it sits still. Either you will get a strong tahini flavour or you will have a very oily wet brownie.

• You can also put some dark chocolate pieces into the brownie batter for more chocolatey flavour.

• You can also sprinkle chunks of chopped almond pieces and/or sea salt.

Use the comments below to share your experience. I would love to hear your thoughts!