Healthy No Bake Brownies

Everyone loves delicious treats. Lots of things claim to be “healthy” and some are. Many other things claim to be “tasty” and again that too is often true. But healthy AND tasty are rarely used together truthfully. Those two things (healthy and tasty) are very often mutually exclusive when it comes to treats. Not today!

We were so pleasantly surprised at how truly yummy these no bake, gluten free, no sugar added, grain free, dairy free, Whole 30 friendly brownies are, we just had to share this recipe with you. Whether you are just trying to limit your sugar intake or you are very allergic to dairy or gluten or just like to try new yummy recipes, you are going to love these brownies!

Healthy No Guilt Brownies
(These Vegan treats are modified from ambitiouskitchen.com)
For the Bars:
1 cup packed pitted Medjool dates
1/4 cup raw walnuts
1/4 cup raw pecans
1/2 cup pistachios, divided
1/4 cup unsweetened finely shredded coconut*
1 tablespoon chia seeds
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon melted virgin coconut oil*
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1-2 tablespoons warm water, if needed

For the Topping:
4-6 dates soaked in warm water to cover
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 tablespoon ghee or coconut oil*
(Alternatively you could use a 2 or 3 oz. semi sweet chocolate bar, melted)

To Garnish:
2-3 tablespoons slivered almonds

Step 1:
Add dates, walnuts, pecans, 1/4 cup pistachios to the bowl of a food processor. Process until slightly chunky.

Step 2:
Next add in unsweetened cocoa powder, shredded coconut, chia seeds, coconut oil, and vanilla. Process again until mixture is chunky and slightly clumping. If the mixture looks dry add 1-2 tablespoons of warm water and process again.

Step 3:
Next add in remaining 1/4 cup of pistachios and 4 more dates and pulse a few times until pistachios and dates look slightly chunky. Put mixture in an 8×4 parchment lined loaf pan and press the mixture in until its even to the sides.

Step 4:
If using semi sweet chocolate, melt it and spread over the mixture in loaf pan.
If you are instead keeping to a no sugar treat, place soaked dates and half of the water they were soaked in to your food processor along with the cocoa powder and ghee or coconut oil and process until smooth. If the mixture seems dry, or not spreadable, add more of the date water or some warm water 1 tablespoon at a time until the mixture is the consistency of melted chocolate. Spread this mixture over the brownies in the loaf pan and sprinkle with slivered almonds.

Place in the freezer for 20-45 minutes until well set. Take the brownies out of the pan using the parchment paper to more easily remove the brownies from the pan. Cut in half lengthwise and then cut those two pieces into fourths to make a total of eight pieces.

* If you are allergic to coconut or just don’t care for the taste, you can substitute ghee in place of coconut oil and use almond flour in place of the shredded coconut. The shredded coconut creates a nice texture so we would encourage you to try it if you aren’t allergic.

Now in case you think we are exaggerating how very tasty these brownies are, just take a look at his face….brownies are one of his very favorites and he LOVED these!