Santa Hat Brownies

Published on December 22, 2011 by GirlieGirlArmy   ·   1 Comment

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These brownies are very decadent, very chocolatey and guaranteed to make your family more tolerable this weekend.

INGREDIENTS:

Brownies

• 4 cups walnut flour (or almond flour)
• 12 whole Medjool pitted dates, chopped
• 4 Tbsp carob powder
• 8 Tbsp cacao powder
• 2 tsp vanilla power
• 8 Tbsp walnut milk (or almond milk)
• 1 tsp Himalayan pink salt
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ cup vegan chocolate chips (I use Sunspire organic chocolate chips)
• ½ cup walnuts, chopped

Ganache

• ¾ cup coconut nectar
• ⅓ cup virgin coconut oil, melted
• ¾ cup raw cacao powder
• ⅛ tsp Himalayan pink salt

Frosting

• 2 cups cashews, soaked 4 hours, drained and rinsed
• ½ cup coconut milk
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 1Tbsp agave
• 1 tsp vanilla powder
• ⅛ tsp Himalayan pink salt
• 1 Tbsp lecithin
• ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
• ¼ cup coconut butter, melted

Topping

• 9 organic strawberries, washed and de-stemmed

PROCEDURE:

Brownies

1. Place the nut flour into the food processor with the “s” blade, add dates, carob, cacao, vanilla, salt and cinnamon, blend together until well combined. Batter should look like meal (dried powder).
2. Add the nut milk while processor in on. Continue processing to combine all ingredients. Be careful not to overprocess. You want the batter to be light “cake” like. Overprocessing will give you more of a fudge batter (equally as good, but not what we’re going for).
3. Remove mixture from processor and place into a mixing bowl. Add the vegan chocolate chips and chopped walnuts, mix well by hand.
4. Place the mixture into a lined 8×8 glass baking dish with non-stick paper.  Evenly pat brownie batter into dish.
5. Set aside and create ganache.

Ganache

1. Place all ganache ingredients in a high powered blender, in the order listed.  It may be necessary to stop the blending process and scrape down the sides of the blender with a spatula to ensure an even and smooth mixing.
2. Continue blending until smooth and incorporated, but do take care not to over-blend when using raw cacao.

Frosting

1. Place all ingredients, except coconut oil, coconut butter and lecithin into a high powered blender, blend until smooth.
2. Add coconut oil, coconut butter and lecithin. Continue to blend until well combined and creamy.
3. Place in the refrigerator for one hour before placing into a piping bag.

To Assemble

1. Evenly spread ganache on brownie batter. Place glass dish in the refrigerator for 90 minutes or until batter and ganache has hardened.
2. Once hardened, remove brownie cake from dish simply by lifting the edges of the paper.  Peel paper away from brownie and then cut into pieces.
3. When ready to serve, add the frosting to the brownie by creating a small circle for the strawberry (stem side down) to sit on.
4. Add another dollop of frosting to the top of the strawberry. You’ve now created your Santa’s hat!

Store the brownies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week (without Santa’s Hat/strawberries), with hat/strawberries for 3 days. They will also freeze beautifully for up to three months (without strawberries).

Yield: 9 brownies

via Chef Tina Jo (who has two fab new books to drool over; Real Life Raw:Holiday Gift Foods and Real Life Raw:Holiday Foods.  Buy ’em here or on amazon.)

Tags: desserts, sweets, vegan brownie recipes, vegan holiday desserts, Vegan Treats

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