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- 27 January 2017 < Back to gossip

Sugar-Free Brownies

From my first book 5 Weeks to Sugar-Free... Brownies without refined sugar. Could this be true!? These are amazing, I promise you – and I am a big brownie fan. The texture is slightly different from usual but still delicious. Add chopped nuts if you like or a shot of espresso coffee along with the milk. The darker the chocolate the better, and you can now buy the 100 per cent stuff in supermarkets.

MAKES ABOUT 15 SQUARES

  • 125g dark chocolate (100 per cent cocoa)
  • 100ml milk
  • 100g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the tin
  • 175g honey
  • 150g maple syrup
  • seeds scraped from ½ split
  • vanilla pod
  • 50g cocoa powder, sieved
  • 3 eggs
  • 150g wholemeal spelt flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  1. Preheat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Grease a 30cm x 20cm brownie tin and line it with baking parchment. Leave the paper sticking up at the sides to make it easier to lift the brownie out when it’s cooked.
  2. Put the chocolate, milk, butter, honey, maple syrup and vanilla seeds in a saucepan. Warm over a very gentle heat, stirring regularly, until everything has melted and you have a rich, glossy-looking batter. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the cocoa powder.
  3. Allow the mixture to cool for a couple of minutes, then beat in the eggs. Finally, add the flour and baking powder. The mixture at this point will look grainier than usual because of the texture of the flour.
  4. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake it in the oven for about 15 minutes until it is just set in the middle but still nice and gooey. Remove the tin from the oven and use the baking paper to help you slide the whole brownie on to a cooling rack as soon as possible so it doesn’t continue to cook. Cut into squares when cool.

My tip

For a real treat, try swirling some of my home-made dulce de leche (you’ll find the recipe in my book) into the mixture with a skewer, as in the picture. Mouthwateringly good.

If you like this recipe, there's plenty more like this in my new book, Sugar Free in a Hurry... a great way to eat less sugar and feel fantastic even if you're short on time! Delicious and healthy family recipes that help you balance blood sugar, lose weight and feel amazing!! Available now on Amazon, Waterstones and WHSmith.