Brownies - Good for the Body and the Soul

I am a brownie person, and I’ve raised brownie-loving girls! It’s not unusual for me to come down in the morning (when the girls are home) to find a batch of brownies on the kitchen counter–half-eaten of course! On the other hand, I’ve come down to peanut butter cookies, oatmeal no-bake cookies, and cakes in assorted colors (the green cake with blue icing looked so awful that even the baker–whose reputation I will protect–didn’t even eat it!

My sister-in-law, Lisa, makes wonderful brownies, and I never turn her down when she offers to bake them for any family occasion. And who doesn’t love brownies topped with ice cream like the delicious ones my mother made the last Christmas we were all together?

Alas, I’m on this anti-inflammatory diet, so brownies are off the menu, or they were…

And then I discovered this recipe. I’ve tweaked it a bit from the regular recipe, and I used dark chocolate chips instead of mini semi-sweet because, well…dark chocolate! You won’t believe how good these are.

So, what is it we all love about brownies? Besides the ooey, gooey chocolatey-ness of them?

I think, like cookies or a flaky home-baked pie, they remind us of simpler times, of our childhood, of happy memories made in the kitchen, or that memory of coming home and smelling the scent of something sweet lingering in the air. There’s just something about baked goods that makes me think of home and happiness and love. We bake for those we love and for those we appreciate. At Christmas, Mom bakes for her mailman, and I bake for the UPS and FedEx guys! After all, they come to our house so often, they’re practically family.

Any time we share food–at a meal, as a gift, or in times of need like funerals or after a baby is born–we are using food the same way Jesus did. We are sharing food for the body and for the soul. We are giving of ourselves, being hospitable and charitable, and sharing a piece of our hearts. Think of how special it is to receive something that someone else baked or cooked just for you. Think of how good you feel when you hand over something from your own kitchen and your own heart.

The author of the Letter to the Hebrews reminds us, “Do not neglect to show hospitality…for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2). When we give to others, we are giving to the Lord, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink” (Matthew 25:35).

So, here’s that recipe that’s not only good but good for you. Go bake it right now, and then share it with others. That good feeling of breaking bread (or brownies) with someone will stay with you long after the taste of chocolate is gone.

Awesome Almond Flour Brownies

Prep Time: 5 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Servings: Serving: 1

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup almond flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoon butter, softened
1 3/4 cups granulated sweetener of choice (you can use erythritol, but I have found that it’s not really sweet enough) or 1 1/3 cups of honey (which I prefer because it is sweet and adds nicely to the gooey texture in addition to being a great anti-inflammatory sweetener)
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (or more) dark chocolate chips

Directions:

Start by mixing together almond flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a separate bowl, gently whisk together softened butter, sweetener, vanilla, eggs, and cocoa until smooth. Gently fold moist mixture into dry ingredients until combined- the batter should be smooth and slightly grainy. Fold in chocolate chips.

Pour batter into a parchment-lined 8″ pan. Bake for 35 minutes or until edges are crisp and a toothpick comes out the center clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before cutting.

Be sure to catch Amy next at:

October 30 – Book signing – CBMM Oyster Festival in St. Michaels, Maryland 10:00AM-4:00PM

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Amy Schisler is an award-winning author of both children’s books and sweet, faith-filled romance novels for readers of all ages. She lives with her husband and three daughters on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Her books, Picture Me, Whispering Vines, and Island of Miracles are all recipients of Illumination Awards, placing them among the top inspirational fiction books of 2015, 2016, and 2017. Whispering Vines was awarded the 2017 LYRA Award for the best romance of 2016. Island of Miracles has outsold all of Amy’s other books worldwide and ranked as high as 600 on Amazon. Her follow up, Island of Promise is a reader favorite. Amy’s children’s book is The Greatest Gift. The suspense novel, Summer’s Squall, and all of Amy’s books, can be found online and in stores. Her latest novel, Island of Promise, was recently awarded First Prize by the Oklahoma Romance Writer’s Association as the best Inspirational Romance of 2018 and was awarded a Gold Medal in the Independent Publisher Book Awards 2019 for Inspirational Fiction. It is the 2019 winner for Best Inspirational Fiction in the RWA Golden Quill Contest, Best Romance in the American Book Awards, and a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award of Fiction. Amy’s 2019 work, The Devil’s Fortune, a finalist in the Writer’s Digest Self-Publishing Awards and winner of an Illumination Award, is based, in part, on Amy’s family history. The third book of Amy’s Chincoteague Island Trilogy, Island of Hope, was released in August of 2019. Amy’s book, Desert Fire, Mountain Rain begins her new Buffalo Springs series. Book two will be out in early 2022. The Good Wine, the sequel to Whispering Vines, is now available in all formats.