Gluten-free & Paleo Dark Chocolate Peppermint Brownies

Gluten-free Dark Chocolate Peppermint Brownies

The dessert request for Christmas this year was unanimously a peppermint brownie recipe I had made in the past. Instead of "winging it" like usual, I decided to be conventional and look up a recipe on one of my favorite gluten-free websites, Elana's Pantry, and adapting it a bit. We brought them to a friend's house Christmas night and across the board, it was agreed that they are amazing and arguably the best (and moist) brownie recipe yet (gluten-free or not). Did I also mention you don't even add sugar?

Gluten-free Dark Chocolate Peppermint Brownies
16 ounces of Almond Butter (two cups of raw almonds blended with 1/4-1/3 cup of coconut oil in a Vitamix or food processor)
2 free-ranged eggs
1 cup of raw honey
1 tbs vanilla extract
1/2 cup cocao or cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3-ounce bar of dark 88% chocolate
1 organic sugar-free peppermint candy cane 

Blend almond butter until it's smooth with a mixer. Blend in eggs, honey and vanilla. Blend in cocao/cocoa powder, salt and baking soda. Chop dark chocolate into pea size pieces and fold into batter. Chop or crush peppermint candy cane in a zip lock bag until crumb size or smaller and fold half into the batter. Save the remaining half to sprinkle over the top after they are baked. Either grease a 9x13 inch pan or line with unbleached parchment paper (I prefer the paper method, SO much easier to remove the brownies and just cut off the edges to make perfect squares). Pour batter into dish and bake at 325 degrees F for 25-40 minutes until baked through. Sprinkle remaining powdered peppermint candy cane over the top. Serve warm or cold and enjoy!