Brownies - Paleo style

A lot of people take the new year as an opportunity to start fresh, get into healthy habits, and cleanse their bodies and minds with resolutions that vary from going outside more to organizing their closets. I am certainly not above all of this, and have several resolutions of my own.

This year, it seems like a lot of people are cutting out gluten, or grain altogether. After reading some books about the "paleo" diet trend, it does seem to make a certain amount of sense. While I am not one to follow diet trends, I did think that trying to eat this way was worth a shot to give my body a fresh start for the new year. I am not saying good-bye to grain forever, and I still think a variety can absolutely be part of a healthy lifestyle. In fact, for busy mothers, athletes, children, outdoorsmen, etc, I think healthy carbohydrates are absolutely necessary. I also believe that treats are an essential part of life and I wouldn't want to live in  world where I wasn't allowed a piece of my son's birthday cake.

Anyway, this month I decided to spend 30 days avoiding most grain, dairy, and sugars. I have been eating lots of wild game, our farm fresh eggs, loads of vegetables, and fruits. Also, LOTS of healthy fats. Avocados, ghee, coconut oil, and olive oil primarily. My goal is not weight loss...I just want to feel good and strong. So far I am half-way through this experiment, and am still not feeling as great as I was when I was eating healthy carbs. I'll give it the whole month, but I really do think my body needs healthy, whole grains.

In the mean time, I've been making mostly paleo-style recipes. This coming weekend is kind of special though. Monday I am getting together with some amazing friends of mine and I want to celebrate it. They are like-minded Mamas and we always have loads to talk about when we get together (which isn't often enough for women that see eye-to-eye on as many topics as we do). Well, I like to celebrate things with food. It was how I was brought up and will always be! So besides whipping up some wild venison stroganoff over spaghetti squash, I am also bringing these brownies.

These brownies. Oh my goodness. Grain or no grain, these are my GO TO brownies from now on! I've never liked things to be too sweet, and these are perfect. The texture is super moist, but not too dense or too cakey. They don't fall apart like some "fake" desserts, and they are just absolutely DELICIOUS. I had to stop myself from just eating half of them as they came out of the oven today. I adapted the recipe from PaleoGrubs.

Please try these brownies, whether you are cleansing your bodies or not. They are easy, tasty, and dare I say it...healthy!

Mixing peanut butter and maple syrup

The addition of eggs, butter, cocoa powder

Must resisit yummy batter! (Ok, a little taste doesn't hurt...)

Baked and cooled

Look at these beauties! They are perfect!

Paleo Style Brownies

2 cups nut butter of choice - I used organic peanut butter (all natural - should only contain nuts and oil)
2/3 cup maple syrup - the good stuff
2 eggs
4 Tbsp. butter, really soft or melted
2 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Combine all ingredients in a medium sized bowl and mix well. Pour into a buttered 9x13 inch glass baking dish and bake at 325 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Let cool and cut. Makes 12 generous brownies.