Skip to main content

Lentil Nut-Butter Brownies

Looks like a brownie, tastes like a brownie, feels better than eating a brownie.

As with this farro salad, this recipe was inspired by a trip to the fabulous Camas Country Mill. 
We went for sandwiches, bought bread and a scone for a treat, and then I was lured by a cute little jar of lentil brownie bites, so we got one of those too. It was delicious, and so I came home to do some googling. The result was this recipe from Vegan Richa, which doesn't taste exactly like the one I had at the mill, but it's nearly as delicious and perfectly easy to make.

If I didn't have an Instant Pot, I don't think I would have bothered. I've never been successful cooking lentils on the stove top without it bubbling over and making a mess at some point in the cooking process, and also I wasn't excited about having to dirty two pots and a food processor. But lentils are so easy in the instant pot, and after 2 minutes of cooking, they were easy enough to mash that I didn't have to bother with the food processor at all. I then added the other ingredients directly to the Instant Pot pot, so the only dishes I used were that and a small saucepan for the maple syrup mixture.

These taste great, and I love that they have a slightly more substantial texture than a typical brownie. They're almost fudgy. The level of sweetness is perfect, too. And yes, they still have sugar and chocolate, but I don't feel bad after I eat them. The protein boost is great.

Usually I prefer center-cut brownies, not edges, but with this recipe I really like the crispy edges. I'm not sure why that is. So, I might experiment with cooking them a bit longer. The original recipe also recommends using sunflower seed butter and using a bit more to get the brownies more crispy, so I'll try that sometime.


The Recipe: (from Vegan Richa, modified to use Instant Pot)
1/2 c red lentils
3 tb canola oil
3 tb maple syrup
1/2 chocolate chips (vegan if desired), plus more for topping
4 tb sugar
1/3 c cashew butter or other nut butter
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1/4c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tb cocoa powder

  • Cook lentils in Instant Pot: Rinse lentils, add to instant pot with 1.2 c water, and pressure cook on high for 2 minutes. Natural release.
  • With a fork, stir and mash the lentils until they are broken down into a fairly uniform paste.
  • Heat maple syrup and oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and immediately stir in sugar and chocolate chips.
  • Add maple syrup mixture to the pot with the lentils. Add remaining ingredients and stir.
  • Pour into a 9 x 9 baking pan and top with extra chocolate chips, slightly pressing them down into the batter.
  • Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes. 
  • Cool before serving. These taste even better the next day.

The Verdict:
Overall grade: A
Overall reason: Good brownies that aren't terrible for you! And they're easy.
Time to prepare: 1 hour, including baking time
5-year-old quote: "Can we make brownies? Those kind of brownies that you make that no one else makes?"

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kitchen renovation!

BEFORE: AFTER: Still to come: a beautiful new induction range and some wood shelving on the left side, above the backsplash. And maybe the shelving unit on the wall facing the cabinets should be green, but we're going to live with a while before making that decision.
2 comments
Read more

Red lentil dal

Cucumber salad is key. This dal is perfect. Most of us took seconds, and I'm really excited to eat the last portion that's sitting in the fridge right now. The accompanying salad is really great for adding texture, crunch, and acidity to the meal. I wouldn't skip it. I got it from  Tea for Turmeric  and prepared it pretty much as written, but doubled and with none of the optional ingredients. This recipe doesn't mention any seasoning/dressing on the salad, but adding lemon and salt to it really brightened things up. The Recipe: (from Tea for Turmeric) 2 c red lentils splash of avocado oil 2 tsp cumin seeds 2 small onions, finely chopped 1 inch ginger, grated 4 small tomatoes, chopped 2 thai chilies, minced 2 tsp cumin powder 2 tsp coriander powder 1 tsp cayenne 1 tsp turmeric 2+ tsp kosher salt 2 tsp lemon juice 1/2 c cilantro, chopped For serving: basmati rice and plain yogurt Salad ingredients: 1/2 english cucumber, sliced 10 cherry tomatoes, quartered 1/4 onion, slic...
Post a Comment
Read more

Curry Fried Rice

Excited for these leftovers. One of the things I wanted to try with my  new jar of curry powder  was fried rice. Years ago, Miles got fried rice at  Korea House  and it was the best fried rice I'd ever had. I suspected there was curry powder in it, but at that time I had never really cooked with curry powder, so I tucked that knowledge away for a later date. After reading a few recipes, I went rogue on this one. I couldn't even begin to effectively guess at what proportions I ended up with, so the recipe below is more of a rough guideline of ingredients. The "Recipe" (sorry no quantities; follow your heart): leftover jasmine rice tofu, cubed and crisped in the oven with avocado oil and salt vegetables: garlic, onion, cabbage, red bell pepper salt curry powder (I used a Vietnamese one) soy sauce sugar sesame oil future topping ideas: runny egg, sesame seeds, green onion Saute the vegetables in avocado oil until softened, and salt them to taste Add the tofu and toss to...
Post a Comment
Read more