These brownies are Rich, Decadent, and Delicious! They have chia, almonds, pistachios, and blueberries inside that make them filled with flavor and texture. Jam-packed with all these goodies these brownies taste so chocolatey and rich!
The inspiration...
It is my birthday today!
I wanted to bake myself something yummy! I love when my birthday falls on a weekend and I get the whole day off. It gives me time to myself, to bake whatever I want, eat whatever I want, and spend time with my family and friends! It means that this birthday will turn out to be a really good day.
For my baking adventure today, I was CRAVING a chocolatey brownie to celebrate! If you know me well, you know I love brownies. I bake a ton of cookies but brownies are my favorite dessert to eat. You can never go wrong with a brownie for a birthday, right?
These brownies are healthy-ish because they are almost Vegan. I am playing around with using chia seeds as a substitute for eggs. I still have not found the perfect combination so I mixed eggs with chia seeds as a binding agent in these brownies. The hard part about making vegan or even semi-vegan brownies is adding enough of a binding agent to prevent the brownies from falling apart. You can easily make these into a vegan brownie by using only chia seeds as the binding agent. I would use three tablespoons of chia seeds as a substitute. These brownies are a little different than a traditional brownies recipe because it has chia seeds, almonds, pistachios, and blueberries. But trust me! You have to try these!
Why do these brownies taste so good...
Because they are filled with rich dark gloriously smooth chocolate! These cookies are baked with extra dark high-quality chocolate that makes them taste so chocolatey and fudgy. It is the perfect brownie consistency. Also, these brownies are completely GLUTEN FREE with no flour added. Like I said before, you can also make this VEGAN so this is a great celebratory brownie to make for anyone who is gluten intolerant or vegan friendly.
The pistachio and the almonds add a nutty and chewy texture balanced by the strong blueberry and chocolate flavor throughout. I wanted to try fruit in my brownies and I settled on blueberries. The blueberry flavor is enhanced once you bake it into the brownies. Other fruit would work great in these brownies like strawberries or even raspberries. Or you can substitute the blueberries for chocolate chips.
These brownies are slightly underbaked to get that perfect gooey center. It is DELICIOUS!
A few tips...
Dry ingredients - This brownie is completely GLUTEN FREE! It has no flour in the batter. I use only baking powder and salt in these brownies because I wanted the brownies to be dense and rich. You can add a few tablespoons of flour if you prefer a more cakey brownie base.
Vegetable oil - I prefer to use vegetable oil when baking because it does not have any flavor so it won't come out when baking. Any neutral oil or butter will do here.
Berries - I love eating fruit so why not add it to my brownies! Any berry fruit will taste delicious in these brownies or you can leave it out altogether.
Nuts - I used a food processer to grind the nuts into a fine powder. I left out a few larger chunks on the side to add on top. The nuts add a nice texture element to these brownies so you get a nutty flavor and also a more chewy brownie.
Baking - these brownies do take a while to bake so be patient! I baked these brownies for an hour. In the last 10 minutes, I covered the brownies with aluminum foil to prevent the top from browning too much. Once, they are ready to be taken out let the brownies sit to rest and cool for at least 10 minutes.
Make this VEGAN - you can easily make this vegan by taking out the egg and using only chia seeds. You can use three tablespoons of chia seeds for these brownies.
Healthy-ish Brownies with Blueberries and Pistachios
Serving size: 12-16
Total Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes
2 tablespoons chia seeds
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup dark chocolate, melted
1/4 cup almonds, blended
1/4 cup pistachios, semi blended
1/2 cup blueberries, frozen or fresh
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper or grease with butter.
Step 2: In a small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon of water with 2 tablespoons of chia seeds. Let the chia seeds set while you prepare the other ingredients.
Step 3: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, sugar, eggs, salt, and vanilla extract until smooth. Then add in the chia seed mixture and melted chocolate. Mix until combined.
Step 4: Fold in the blended almonds, pistachios, and blueberries. You can leave some extra nuts and berries out to place on top of the brownie batter.
Step 5: Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 50-55 minutes. Check on the brownies 45 minutes in. Once the brownies have puffed up, browned on top, and a fork comes out clean from the center of the brownies. If the brownies are taking a while to set, cover the brownies with aluminum foil and continue baking until the brownies have set in the middle. Remove the brownies from the oven and let the brownies sit for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
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