26 Chocolaty Paleo Brownies without Flour or Dairy
Think you’ve had your last brownie because you’re doing Paleo? Think again! While it’s true that Paleolithic man wasn’t sitting around eating brownies, there are ways to make brownies using ingredients they would have had access to, if not the oven to bake them in. Some are a little more elaborate than others, and there are even some no bake brownies you can whip up in a jiffy the next time you get a caveman sized craving for some chocolatey goodness.
Photo: The Healthy Foodie
1. Paleo Sweet Potato Brownies
Here’s a great way to work some vegetables into your brownies, so you know that you’re getting nutrition along with your sweet snack. They have also managed to sneak in an entire avocado, so you’re really getting a fiber stack here, as well as healthy fats and a carbohydrate that will keep you sustained for a while. That makes these a great midday snack that can propel you to your next meal. They even include a Paleo friendly icing recipe so you can frost these brownies and make them look and taste amazing.
2. Cherry Red Wine Brownies
They’re using raw, unsweetened cacao powder here, so you’re getting chocolate the way it was meant to taste, and not the kind that is loaded with milk and sugar. They’re also using some seriously dark chocolate at 85% which is good because it’s going to be a more pure form. The combination of red wine with cherries gives these a unique flavor without losing their brownie essence, so you can turn to these whenever you want a delicious treat without breaking from your Paleo way of eating. They even include a recipe for dark chocolate ganache so you can give your brownies a nice icing as well.
3. One Minute Molten Chocolate Brownie
Don’t believe you can make brownies in a minute? Well, you are cheating by using your microwave, something early man definitely did not have. It’s up to you whether you will use your microwave while on Paleo. Some followers only grill or steam their food, using methods that a caveman might have had. Others use modern man’s conveniences as a way to bring the two worlds together. What you end up with is a warm, chocolatey cup of yum that you can seriously make for yourself since the recipe is for a single serving. This makes it a good choice for chocolate emergencies when you need something stat.
4. Avocado Brownies
Avocados are so healthy for you that you should really find a way to incorporate them into your Stone Age diet plan. They have potassium and fiber and healthy fats, and they just plain taste good. But here’s a way to use avocados that we’d never seen before, and it’s going to take your concept of what a brownie is and stand it on its head. All of the ingredients used are Paleo approved so you can eat these without feeling too guilty. Of course your main meals should be full of meats and veggies, but it’s nice to have a sweet treat on occasion to break up any monotony.
5. Flour-less Fudgey Brownies
If you like fudge, and you like brownies, then the idea of fudge-like brownies is likely very appealing. The ingredient list on this recipe is as simple as can be, and often when eating Paleo you’ll see this tactic being used to make sure that recipes stay within Paleo guidelines. The more complicated you get the more likely a recipe is not going to be very Paleolithic. But here it’s eggs, some cocoa powder, maple syrup and some coconut oil, all well within the confines of what most commonly agree to be Paleo approved foods.
Photo: The Lucky Penny
6. Paleo Brownie Bites
These brownie bites come out looking good enough to use when entertaining, if you can find it within yourself to share them. These are fantastic during the summertime because they’re no-bake, so you don’t even have to turn the oven on, and they’re best served chilled, so they can be a cool, chocolatey, bite-size treat to get you through the hot times. If you’re not a fan of coconut you can opt out of the coating and just eat them plain. They point out that these will keep well in the fridge if you can control yourself, and you can freeze them too if you need help controlling yourself around them.
7. Paleo and Gluten Free Brownies
They’re using almond flour here in place of the all-purpose baking flour you’re typically getting in ordinary brownies. By doing that they’re not only keeping it Paleo, but it’s going to be gluten free as well. One nice feature about going Paleo is that you automatically cut out the gluten from your diet, so you get to experience all of those benefits as well. In less than an hour you can go from no brownies, to fully baked brownies you can eat while they’re still warm. They’d go great with a glass of milk, but alas, milk is a no-no on Paleo.
8. Triple-Chocolate Chunk Paleo Brownies
The only thing better than chocolate is three times as much of it. Here they’re using two different types, and plenty enough of it to make this a chocolate treat for you while not taking you off course. They’re using a mix of almond butter and other ingredients to give these the proper texture and taste, so you won’t be missing the flour. They also include chunks of chocolate, so you won’t be eating them and wondering where the chocolate is. This one should be bookmarked by all chocolate lovers out there doing Paleo.
9. Dense & Fudgy Chocolate Brownies
Dense foods seem like they would be suited for a caveman, and they also imply that this is a brownie that’s going to stick with you after you eat it. Feeling satisfied is one of the philosophies behind Paleo, you want to eat enough food so that you feel full, so it’s not like some diets where you’re carefully measuring out your servings and trying to stay under specific numbers. You can enjoy one of these brownies as a desert and still be guilt free afterward since it’s all Paleo ingredients. If you’re a fan of fudge you can kill two birds with one stone here.
10. Paleo Mint Triple Chocolate Brownies
Here’s a good brownie recipe for those that like a bit of mint with their chocolate. Think of this as a Paleo workaround to not being able to eat Thin Mints from the Girl Scouts. They’re not only using a mint dark chocolate bar for the mint test, they have you adding peppermint extract to the mix, so you’ll definitely taste the cool mintiness, plus all of the chocolate. They’re using cocoa powder, a dark chocolate bar, and dark chocolate chips so it’s not short on chocolate. They’re keeping it dark to keep it Paleo.
Photo: Living Healthy with Chocolate
11. No Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies
Here’s a great brownie recipe that you don’t even need your oven for, and they’re combining two different taste sensations: chocolate chip cookie dough, and brownies. You get a beautiful layered effect with three distinct colors going on here. Because you don’t have to bake these you don’t have to wait around for the baking to be done, which makes them a quicker and easier brownie creation that you’ll likely end up making more than once. The ingredients are all Paleo friendly, so this gets the green light even for picky Paleo followers.
12. Brownie Lara Bars
Here they’ve found out how to replicate the taste of a LARABAR and also be able to make it at home. It didn’t take much tinkering, as the original chocolate chip brownie bar is made with all Paleo friendly ingredients, but they’ve managed to simplify it further while still getting a good flavor. It might not look the same, or taste the same, but it comes pretty close, and since you’ll be able to make these whenever you’d like and store them so you can snack on them throughout the week, it’s a good recipe to have in your arsenal.
13. Coconut Magic Brownie Bars
If you’re a fan of coconut you’re going to want to put these brownies at the top of your list. And even though it says magic brownies, it’s not what you might be thinking. This is a nice layered mix of chocolate, coconut, nuts, and naturally sweet things like honey. They also manage to sneak an avocado in there as well, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at the finished product. The nice part about the way they’ve stacked these brownies is that you can taste all of the ingredient individually, but they also combine to form one taste sensation.
14. Spicy Red Velvet Brownies
Here are a ways to shake up the brownie status quo. Using a red velvet recipe is one way, and making them spicy is another. The red coloring comes from beets, no artificial colors here. The spice comes from a bit of cayenne pepper and the rest of the ingredients are so simple you’ll wonder how these come out looking like normal brownies. There isn’t any flour, or even a flour substitute, and they’ve figured out how to use the beets as the main ingredient. They’ve done a good job keeping everything pure and fresh, recommending that you use grass-fed butter and pasture raised eggs.
15. Toasted Coconut Brownie Bites
Here is a brownie recipe that is missing a pretty important ingredient: chocolate. Instead they’re using carob, and there’s a pretty good list of reasons why she prefers it to chocolate. If it’s not enough to convince you to try it there is the option to sub it out with chocolate and be more of a traditionalist. The use of a mini muffin pan means that you’re going to get a whole bunch of mini brownie bites that are great for popping when you need a little something sweet and don’t want to veer off your diet plan.
Photo: Civilized Caveman Cooking Creations
16. Sweet Potato Ginger Brownies
When you’re including copious amounts of sweet potatoes in your brownies, you’re already making sure that you’re going to get a burst of nutrition along with plenty of fiber and flavor. Coconut flour is used here so you’re avoiding the problems that come from using regular all-purpose flour. The ground ginger is going to give these brownies a unique pop in your mouth. They’ve also made sure that the other ingredients meet Paleo standards, by using raw organic honey instead of the conventional, heavily processed kind. You can even add chocolate chips in these as well, with a link to a dairy free kind.
17. Flourless Chestnut Brownies
Part of being on Paleo is exploring different foods that you might not have eaten too much of in the past. If you’ve only had chestnuts a few times before, it’s time to get reintroduced to them. This is a good recipe to do that with, since chestnuts are featured prominently and deliver big flavor to these brownies. When they say flourless, they mean it, as they aren’t even using Paleo-OK flours like coconut flour or almond flour. The chestnuts serve as the substance to these brownies, and they manage to pull it off.
18. Raw Pecan Fudge Brownies
Here’s a brownie recipe for the days when you don’t feel like turning on the oven. That’s because instead of putting the pan in the oven you end up putting in the refrigerator to let them set. They give them a healthy dusting of cocoa powder to finish them off, a great idea since it gives them just the right amount of chocolate flavor. The use of pecans in this is a great idea, as they show up in several traditional brownie recipes so you’re getting some classic flavor here. Not a speck of flour is used, and there’s an entire avocado in there providing healthy fats, fiber, and potassium.
19. Lemon Curd Brownies
Here’s a lemony treat that will leave you feeling satisfied. Lemon curd is pretty easy to turn Paleo, you just have to replace the refined sugar. They don’t provide a recipe for the actual lemon curd, so here’s a way to make Paleo friendly lemon curd. They’re using honey instead of sugar so you’ll get the taste without the junk that’s in processed sugar. Once that’s out of the way you can turn your attention to the brownies, which use some pretty popular Paleo baking ingredients to get the job done. The end result is a traditional style brownie with a lemon twist.
20. Double Chocolate Zucchini Brownies
Using vegetables in a dessert is a sure way to make it healthier and in this case they’ve given a starring role to zucchini. The nice thing about zucchini is that it doesn’t have an overpowering taste, but is adding nutrition and texture to an otherwise sweet treat. They’re using premium ingredients here, like organic zucchini and stevia chocolate to cut down on the amount of sugar that these contain. It’s all purely Paleo, so you can enjoy these without remorse and without feeling like your train has jumped the tracks.
Photo: Things My Belly Likes
21. Sauerkraut Brownies
Anyone gutsy enough to put sauerkraut in brownies deserves to make it onto our Paleo brownies list. If you’re like us you probably are a bit skeptical at the idea of putting sour pickled cabbage into a brownie, but you have to keep an open mind. Yes, this recipe is the result of a challenge, but the result is something to behold, and it somehow works. The best part is that each ingredient used is totally Paleo friendly, so no worries there. And there’s plenty of yummy sweet things in there to overpower the sour.
22. Spicy Aztec Brownies
If you’ve never considered making or eating a spicy brownie, you may want to give it a try. There’s something about chocolate and spice that go together nicely. These brownies are a nice mix of both. Cayenne pepper provides the heat, and there’s plenty of chocolate to spare because of the use of baking chocolate as well as Paleo-approved chocolate chips from Enjoy Life. As an added bonus the directions on this are super simple, keeping in line with the caveman-easy style of the Paleo way of eating and living.
23. Mayan Chocolate Brownies with Sunbutter Swirl
Mayan civilization doesn’t go back far enough to be considered Paleolithic, but all of the ingredients in these brownies pass the Paleo test, so they get the green light. What makes these special is definitely the swirl that goes through them, and what it’s made of. They’re using sunflower seed butter, which gives these a very unique taste. They provide an alternative if you don’t like sunbutter, so don’t be turned away, just use a different nut butter for a very similar effect and taste. Medjool dates are a great addition, both to the taste and texture as well as the nutrition content.
24. Salted Caramel Flax Brownies
Here’s a way to get your caramel fix without actually consuming any caramel. Being a Paleo follower means kicking the sugar, and that means kicking things that are primarily made out of sugar, including caramel. Here they’re just using a caramel flavored syrup that’s sugar free. This gives you the flavor but keeps you from feeling guilty about the experience. Almond butter provides the smooth texture of caramel, so your taste buds get fooled, and so does your mouth. The two layers make it a treat for the eyes, but also mean that you’ll have a sort of battle going on as you chew them up between the two flavors.
25. Blueberry Espresso Brownies
Some Paleo sticklers don’t include coffee in their daily routine, or in their cooking. If you’re one of them, you can pass on this recipe because it’s using ground coffee for the espresso flavor. If you’re not one of them, you can enjoy this completely, as it’s a very smart use of coffee mixed with antioxidant-rich blueberries so it not only tastes good, but is far better for you than the majority of brownies you see being sold. They’ve given extra attention to the use of premium ingredients, and are using organic items wherever they can.
26. Black Forest Brownie Hearts
Traditional Black Forest Cake would definitely be a Paleo no-go due to all of the whipped cream, ordinary chocolate cake, and brine soaked maraschino cherries. But in this brownie version they’ve done away with all of that sort of thing, and have managed to keep it Paleo friendly. They use dried bing cherries to bring the taste of cherries, they’ve 86’d the whipped cream, and they’re using applesauce to bring added flavor as well as some extra sweetness. The use of a heart-shaped cookie cutter is optional of course, but gosh, it sure makes them look really cute.
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