Chocolate Hazelnut Brownies // Paleo

A few months back I talked about the paleo diet and shared my recipe for these delicious bars, which we make all the time. But a lot of paleo desserts aren’t sweet enough, or taste too much like coconut. That is why I my heart skipped a beat when I took my first bite of these chocolate hazelnut brownies. They are AMAZING (and not just for paleo standards). They are dense, full of flavor, and exactly sweet enough to fulfill my unruly sugar cravings (not to mention my Nutella addiction).

{This recipe is adapted from Panna’s Paleoliscious blog.}

Chocolate Hazelnut Paleo Brownies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups raw hazelnuts
2 cups raw almonds
130 grams dark chocolate (we use Green & Black’s 85% cacao)
1/2 cup agave syrup
1 tspn coconut crystals (sap from coconuts, tastes like brown sugar)
4 eggs

Directions:

1. Roast the hazelnuts in the oven at 350°F for about 10 mins. After you take them out, place them in a dish towel and rub them roughly so that most of the skin comes off. Keep the oven on at 350°F.
2. Put the hazelnuts in a food processor and chop until it starts to form into a ball, about a minute.
3. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in a pot over boiling water (double boiler effect).
4. Make almond butter by putting the almonds into the food processor and letting them chop for about 10-12 minutes so that it has the texture of peanut butter
5. Separate the eggs. Whip the yolks with the agave syrup until fluffy. Whisk in the coconut crystals, almond butter, chocolate and hazelnuts.
6. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they form peaks. Then gently fold them into the chocolate batter with one third of the batter at a time.
7. Pour the mix into a pan lined with parchment paper and bake for about 30 minutes. Try not to over bake it, that is very important.
8. When it’s done, let it cool down for a few hours. Once it’s completely cool, you have the option to make the ganache for on top (but they are really so good without, too!).

Ganache:

Melt 100g of dark chocolate with 1 tablespoon olive oil. The ganache will harden within the hour. If you want it to stay creamy but without dairy (true paleo) then you can add some coconut milk when the chocolate becomes liquid in the double boiler.

Make these for your Labor Day bbq! Although there are few ingredients, this recipe is a bit labor intensive (get it?…ha ha), but so worth it. They are chocolate-hazelnutty perfection and make you want to throw your Nutella out the window because these are the real deal people!

Please let me know how yours turn out. ♡

xo, Bar