Almond Pulp Brownies

When I first started on this journey, dairy was one of the first foods I had to cut out. I’d been lactose intolerant my whole life, but I ignored the nausea I felt after eating a bowl of ice cream or an extra cheesy pizza. When I got diagnosed with Crohns, I took the signs more seriously and made the decision to cut out dairy completely. It was actually way easier than I thought because there were so many great alternatives that I could enjoy. I’ve found an amazing dairy free cream cheese, butter, and even yogurt made out of cashews that could replace my favorite dairy products with. Almond milk has always been my milk of choice though. When I was younger, my mom had me drinking almond milk instead of regular milk because she knew how it made me feel. It would appear she cared more for my belly than I did… gotta love moms. Something I never paid attention to though was the ingredients in my almond milk. I loved the low calorie count and maybe the no sugar added, but I never noticed the preservatives. If you look on the back of the bottle, the ingredients list could be longer than four or five lines. And for what? Words I can’t even pronounce that I didn’t even know existed.

If I’m buying something prepaid or prepackaged my motto for the past few months has been: if there’s an ingredient I can’t pronounce or don’t recognize, don’t buy it. This seems overly cautious, but my stomach is so temperamental, I would rather be safe than sorry. Of course, I always do a little research to keep myself updated on the ingredients, but what I’ve noticed is that, so often, brands throw in so many not needed ingredients to up the flavor or keep the product fresher for longer. And while I value great flavor and a long shelf life, I also value QUALITY food. All this being said, I’ve recently become obsessed with making my own almond milk. There are so many ways to make your own using different types of nuts and YOUR choice ingredients. You can decide exactly what goes into your drink and that’s amazing. A few months ago I was lucky enough to try out an almond milk machine from Almond Cow This thing is amazing! It literally takes less than an minute to have your own fresh nut milk. I’ve been loving the different flavor combos. You can seriously play around with anything to make a new flavor. My favorite classic almond milk recipe is: 1/2 cup almonds, 2 dates, vanilla. Super simple and always tasty.

However, after you make the milk, your left with about a cup of almond pulp. Basically, it’s like wet almond flour. I hate throwing this stuff away because I feel like I’m wasting food. So, instead of tossing it, I decided to try and make a new recipe with it! The recipe turned out way better than I expected. I think the almond pulp added a nice moistness to the chocolate brownies that’s just right. I used a “spicy” chocolate almond butter for a fun kick and chocolate chunks on the top for a sweet addition. I’ll link these products in the recipe below! Hope you guys love this recipe as much as I do. Happy baking

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup almond pulp

• 1/2 cup applesauce

• 2 tbs D’vash Organics date honey

• 1/2 cup Solstice Canyon Aztec chocolate almond butter (you can always sub a plain almond butter and some cacao powder if that’s easier!)

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed

• 1 cup gluten free oats

• Optional: chocolate chips for the inside mix, HuKitchen dark chocolate bar for the top, sea salt to top!

Recipe

1. Combine all wet ingredients first and mix well. Slowly add in the flaxseed and oats and continue stirring.

2. Pour into a lined brownie tin and top with chocolate bar pieces and sea salt

3. Bake at 370 for about 30 minutes. I always say keep an eye on it and check with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out clean then you know it’s ready!

Let me know how it goes!