Amazing Raw Cacao Brownies Recipe | Vegan | Gluten-Free

Satisfy your chocolate craving without the sugar, or guilt!

In my quest for clean eating and healthy living, I discovered this Raw Brownies Recipe last year.  It comes to us from Rawmazing.com and it truly does not disappoint.  Not only are you satisfying your chocolate and sugar craving without the guilt, this amazing list of clean ingredients is loading you up with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and fiber, which we all know is good for our health and beauty.  They're vegan and gluten-free.

The recipe on Rawmazing calls for chipotle.  I'm not a big fan of chipotle, so I chose to make these without and instead listed that ingredient as optional here.  If you do like a little heat in your food, be sure to add that chipotle and let me know how they turn out!

Cacao vs Cocoa:  You may be thinking "Cacao?  Girl don't know how to spell." 

There is a difference between the two.  One Green Planet gives a good explanation of each and their many healthy benefits.  Main point, if you can't find Cacao Powder, you can substitute with Cocoa Powder.  Just be sure you're choosing 100% pure in both cases.  Do not choose one that has extra sugar, etc added to it.  Check the product's ingredients list before you buy.

A Word of Advice:  When serving these to kids for the first time, or anyone without an open mind to trying new things, I suggest you don't exclaim "They're raw!" 

Just tell them they're brownies.  Even though you think the fact that they're raw, yet still taste so good is amazing, many kids, or adults who are still eating a 1980's diet, may not.  I made this mistake with my 5-year-old niece, whom I recently started calling "Sugar Queen."  The second she heard "raw," she wouldn't even try them.  Her older brother, on the other hand, thought they were great.

Photo Credit: Rawmazing.com

Ingredients for the Brownies:

2 cups walnuts

1 cup cacao powder

1 teaspoon ground chipotle powder (optional)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch Himalayan salt

2 cups Medjool dates

1/2 cup dried figs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Ingredients for the Ganache:

1/2 cup cacao

1/2 cup agave nectar

1/4 cup raw organic coconut oil, melted

1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder (optional)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon