Salted Double Chocolate Almond Butter Brownies

I understand that when a website almost 6 years old has not one, not two, not three but nine brownie recipes, it’s possible - or at least highly likely - that the brownie category has been exhausted.
The archives are full.
I get it. I do.
Probably we should discuss about sesame chicken, coconut curry lentils or Ethiopian chicken stew.
Probably.

But the thing is, I really wanted a brownie. And more so, an oh-so-fudgy melt-in-your-mouth chocolate brownie.
And despite having an alphabet of brownie recipes from avocado brownies, to blender brownies, to brownies in a mug, and sweet potato brownies, I actually haven’t shared yet one of my favorite brownie recipes.
Enters these Salted Double Chocolate Almond Butter Brownies.
The most oh-so-fudgy melt-in-your-mouth chocolate brownies ever known to mankind (and I'm not exaggerating!)

These brownies take 10 minutes to put together and embody everything I love in a brownie.
They’re chocolaty, fudgy, bittersweet, with a hint of saltiness where so many brownies are excessively sweet or worse, cakey and chocolaty in color only.
Like many of my favorite recipes, they’re made with just a few simple ingredients and the most important two, as you may infer from the recipe title, are chocolate (in the form of cocoa and semisweet chocolate chips) and almond butter.
If you’re not a fan of almond butter, don’t worry the flavor isn’t too noticeable. Still, you can also try this recipe using peanut butter, cashew butter, or even sunflower butter for a nut-free alternative.
This recipe is easily adapted, so do play around.

If you want a brownie with deeply rooted chocolate intensity, paleo-friendly and without using a pound of chocolate, a pound of butter, and a pound of sugar, than this is your recipe.
Speedy preparation, minimal clean-up, awesome results.
What’s there not to love?

Salted Double Chocolate Almond Butter Brownies                                                             Print this recipe!
Barely adapted from Detoxinista and WellPlated

Ingredients
Yields 16 brownies

Brownies

1 cup almond butter (I used Barney)
5 tablespoons cocoa powder
6 tablespoons brown sugar (I used coconut sugar to keep the recipe paleo)
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon fine grain salt
¾ cup dark chocolate chips

Frosting

¾ cup dark chocolate chips
2 tablespoons almond butter
1 tablespoon coconut oil (or butter)
3 tablespoons milk of your choice (I used almond milk to keep the recipe paleo)
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Salt flakes

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) and place a rack in the middle.
Lightly grease a 8x8-inch baking pan, line the pan with parchment paper, and lightly grease the parchment paper. This will make brownie removal much easier. Set aside.
In a medium bowl combine almond butter, cocoa, sugar, maple syrup, egg, and vanilla extract. Mix with a wooden spoon until fully incorporated.
Sprinkle baking soda and salt and stir to combine. Fold in chocolate chips. At this point the batter will be very dense and thick, that’s how it’s supposed to be.
Spoon the batter into the lined pan and, using your fingers, press it into an even layer.
Bake for 16 minutes, until the top starts to puff.
Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
In the meantime make the frosting.
In a small saucepan over low heat melt chocolate chips with almond butter and coconut oil. Stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and fold in milk and vanilla. Continue to stir until smooth and shiny.
Spread over cooled brownies, sprinkle with salt flakes, and refrigerate until the frosting is set.
Store brownies in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 1 week.

Nutrition facts

One brownie yields 154 calories, 10 grams of fat, 17 grams of carbs, and 3 grams of protein.