I am always experimenting with gluten free chocolate brownies and I am still looking for that kind of fudgy, dense, perfect consistency, well I think this time I got pretty close. There is always room for improvement obviously but hey these little beauties are so so good! I have topped them with strawberries as I find when they bake they become particularly sweet and almost pungent.

Apart from being gluten free they are also paleo as I have only used almond flour. As regard of the sweetener the stars of the show are dates! they are just the best, aren’t they? They are naturally so sweet and they also are packed with essential minerals like zinc, magnesium, calcium, iron and fibres.

As always I like to make a batch on Sunday afternoon so I have got my little healthy treats to munch on whenever I get a sweet crave during the week (which happens very often :))

Ingredients:

1 cup of cashew butter (almond butter will work as well)

1/2 cup of chia seeds + 3/4 cup of water

1 cup of Medjool dates

1/2 cup of almond milk (or any other creamy non dairy milk)

2 tablespoon of maple syrup (or more if you like it sweeter)

1 cup of ground almond

3/4 cup of raw cacao powder

1/3 cup of melted coconut oil

5-6 strawberries washed and sliced

Start by preheating the oven at 180 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a bowl mix the chia seeds with the water and set aside until a gloopy gel starts to form.

Place the pitted dates, melted coconut oil, cashew butter, almond milk and maple syrup in a food processor and blitz until it becomes a thick paste.

Pour the mixture into a bowl and add the ground  almond, raw cacao powder and chia seeds and combine well.

Pour the batter into a baking tin lined with parchment paper and smooth it out evenly. Cover the surface with the sliced strawberries and place it in the oven for 35 minutes or until a tooth pick will come out clean.

Let the brownies cool COMPLETELY in the tin before remove them and slice them. I store them in an air tight container in the fridge for up to a week.