The Shrinkage Diaries: Strawberry Fudge Brownies! Serios!

Don't be scared...it's just Amy and I imitating the Bears. :D

Shrinkage is still going well, though somewhat delayed since coming home. I haven't been exercising much, which I am going to make a goal of this week. It's funny how getting out of practice of a thing makes you rather reluctant to do it! I love experimenting with healthy recipes of every sort, but some of my favorite things to work on are Clean-Eating desserts.

I mean, really. Who can resist a dessert? Not me. And I knew that giving up refined sugars and wheat-flours didn't have to mean the end of everything amazing.  I like to know my food blogs, and for a long while Smitten Kitchen was the place I went (and still go) when I wanted a weird recipe like homemade Wheat Thins or Goldfish or Graham Crackers. Brown Eyed Baker was a close second with any and every recipe . And when I was feeling really French and adventures, I went with David Lebovitz for something like his divine Lemon Curd. But obviously a paradigm shift in diet means I can no longer frequent sites like Smitten Kitchen or Brown Eyed Baker. They have become the rarest of treats.

But I'm still not panicking. Because, well, this is where Clean-Foodie blogs like Chocolate Covered Katie  come in. Do you realize, people, that CCK is a blog devoted almost entirely to clean dessert recipes? AH! I have tried several and have loved each one. Other great Clean-Foodie blogs are An Edible Mosaic and Gracious Pantry, which I have likewise scoured for recipes to satisfy my family's collective sweet-tooth. There are so many I have yet to try that look amazing, like CCK's No-Bake Coconut Crack bars. I mean, really people. How can anything that tastes as good as these recipes be healthy for you?

I'm developing an understanding that healthy actually tastes a whole lot better.

That being said, the other day I had an urge to making something delicious for when Abigail Taylor arrived. I hopped on to CCK and chose Chocolate Chip Everything Bars. Now we all laugh, knowing that I am an untraditionalist when it comes to following a recipe, and I'm always altering even the most simple things to fit my preferences. The first problem came when I didn't have chocolate chips. Or enough coconut. Or nuts. Or freeze-dried berries. or xylitol, and I really didn't want to use sugar. Oh yeah. I didn't have stevia either.
Before you dismiss me as being crazy for settling on a recipe I didn't even have the ingredients for, you have to do two things:

1.) Look at this picture:

2.) Remember I'm very good at this sort of thing.

You can't resist the one and you can't deny the other, so hush for a second while we move onward. I started substituting this for that and her for him and them for y'all and you know, eventually these weren't Chocolate Chip Everything Bars. They were Strawberry-Fudge Brownies. Now you may laugh, and then enjoy the recipe, which I'm posting below.

Srawberry Fudge Brownies:

• 1/2 c. oats (rolled or quick)
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 c. dark cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
• 1/4 c. shredded coconut (you may use up to 1/2 cup)
• 2 (15 oz.) cans white beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/3 c. dates soaked
• 6 Tbs. coconut oil
• 4 Tbs. applesauce
• 4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 c. fresh strawberries, diced
• A sprinkling of chocolate chips would be nice if you had 'em.

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. and grease a 9 x 13 pan.
2. Combine all ingredients except strawberries and chocolate chips in a blender or food processor, and blend till completely smooth, scraping down the sides when necessary.
3. Stir in strawberries and chips by hand, then smooth into pan.
4. Bake for 30 minutes and cool completely.

Makes about fifteen brownies...if they make it out of the pan

These are absolutely to die for. The batter was a little disappointing flavor-wise...you could taste the beans a little bit. It was like chocolate-hummus! :D But something magical happened in the oven, and the caterpillar was transformed into an elegant chocolate butterfly. Abigail was astonished. Dad was more astonished. He's not been eating sugar for at least 9 months, so he walked in and was like, "So, is there anything good to eat around here?"
I gestured to the plate of decadent, fudge-y brownies sitting on the countertop. "Those."
"Yeah, but they have sugar."
"No they don't," I laughed.
"Yes they do."
"Dad, really, they don't."
"What?" and then he took one and tried it and I think I'll be his favorite daughter from now on. ;)

Kidding. But honestly, you really need to try these brownies. You can leave out the strawberries if strawberries and chocolate together aren't your thing, and you'd still be left with a killer brownie: moist, fudge-y, deep, and impossibly, deliciously dark. You'll never taste a better clean-eating brownie (or a better regular brownie!) unless, of  course, it was my Single-Lady One-Serving Brownies. But those will have to feature in another post!

Would you like me to continue the Clean-Eating Recipe posts? I'm having such a great time trying out these things and sharing them with you. Do you have any favorite healthy-food blogs? I'm always on the lookout for more!