A blog about the Primal Blueprint diet and lifestyle
Last summer I wrote and received a grant for my kids’ co-op preschool to fund a new program promoting the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables. The program is called “Try It Day”. Once a week, another parent or I bring in samples of a given fruit or vegetable. The kids all get a chance to try it before snack time. If they try it, or even just lick it, they get a sticker on their chart. I also prepare a one-page handout for all the parents about the fruit or vegetable of that week. I usually include recipes, food facts, and some ideas for activities. So far we’ve done cauliflower, melon, zucchini, and squash. At some point Im going to post these handouts on the site for those who might be interested.
While researching information for the squash handout I came across an interesting recipe for peanut butter squash ‘brownies’. You can imagine my excitement when I realized these were primal-friendly, grain free, refined sugar free brownies! At first glance, the short ingredient list seemed really strange. There are only 5 ingredients in these flourless brownies and I couldn’t imagine what kind of texture would result. Of course, I had to make them immediately.
These brownies are amazing! The texture is like a wonderfully moist cake or brownie and most of the sweetness comes from the squash. I cant say this about all my primal treats, but in this case you can feel confident serving these to friends, family, coworkers and children without looking like youre trying to impose some crazy health-food agenda.
Compared to the original recipe I found, I increased the squash, decreased the honey, and used raw almond butter instead of peanut butter. I used 1/3 cup honey for the whole batch which comes out to just over tablespoon of honey per brownie. However, you could probably get away without adding any honey and maybe just mixing in some coconut, dates, or raisins.
Feel free to get creative with substitutions. Try other nut butters, other forms of squash, other sweeteners, spices, mix-ins, the possibilities are endless. I made several batches using either fresh squash that I steamed and mashed or canned pumpkin. I preferred the fresh squash to the canned pumpkin, but the latter worked perfectly well and seemed appropriate for the upcoming holiday.
Consider topping with applesauce and/or whipped cream for a delicious dessert.
Ingredients:
1 cup almond butter
cup mashed pumpkin or other squash, canned or steamed
1 egg
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp baking soda
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix well. Pour into a greased 8 x 8 in pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Serves 8.
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I saw this recipe in my feed and a kind of madness seized me. I ran off to the kitchen, sawed into the pumpkin sitting on my counter and went to town. The brownies are now in my oven, but if the batter is any indication they’re awesome.
Eeek! Elizabeth, I just realized that in my haste to get the post up I typed in “baking powder” instead of “baking soda”. I hope they turn out okay. If not, let me know and I will personally send you a batch!
Hmm, well I did use baking powder but they came out really good anyway. Maybe a little loftier than the ones in your picture. I also added 1 tsp of vanilla.
Oh wow. This is going into my recipe swipe file!
“Try It Day” sounds like a great idea! If I had kids I’d see about getting something like that going in their classes.
MMMM.. I don’t like pumpkin pie but I adore baked pumpkin goodies. These would be great with a cream cheese type frosting. I can’t wait to try this!
REALLY REALLY good! 🙂
I just made these. Followed the exact directions with the exception of adding chopped walnuts to the top before baking. Oh, and I needed to bake for about 30-35 minutes. Had I not known I would have never thought there was no flour in them. Next time I think I’ll add in pumpkin spice seasonings for an extra kick.
thanks for the recipe!!
These sound wonderful! I might feel inclined to throw some nutmeg in there. Yum!
yum!
These are hot out of the oven. I am munching on one as I type this. DELICIOUS! I can’t believe there’s no flour in this. Based on others’ recommendations, I added some pumpkin pie spice and some chopped walnuts to the top. I also added a sprinkle of salt. This is something a person could bring to the obligatory holiday parties, and no one would be none the wiser and a way us primal folk could get our dessert on. I ran the recipe through a calculator, and a 1/8 square is 20 (gross) carbs.
Almond Butter Pumpkin Brownies
I. Love. You!!!!!!
Anyone know how many net carbs? Yes, I suppose I could figure it out, but it’s a lazy day 🙂
I made these with a pecan topping and my whole family loved them. They were so delicious!
Wow – thanks for this wonderful recipe. It is really unbelievable that it’s flourless. I baked them in mini-muffin tins: quicker. A bit dry – could have even removed from oven earlier than 20 min. My kids loved them! I baked some of the batter that didn’t fit in my muffin pans in a shallow bread pan and on that, I sprinkled raw pecan halves and some chunks of some 70% cacao dark chocolate I had. Next time will add chocolate/nuts to all of them – great!
AWESOME, I saw this through one of the Bestself tweets, it sounds so easy to do! I also enjoy your photos , you are goooooooooooood!
Thanks
Oops – I forgot to mention also that I added a pinch of salt and some pumpking pie spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cardemom). I’ve tweeted this and emailed it to family and friends, too! 🙂
Yum Yum! Just put them in the oven. Tasted the batter (pre-egg addition)… delicious! Can’t wait till they are done!
Hi,
I just came across this site via a link someone posted on mark’s daily apple forum.
I am all over this recipe… only thing I want to double check is the oven temp… I am assuming it’s in American and in Fahrenheit?
I’m going to try this tonight if it’s not still too hot. =)
Wug
I love these! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Thank you so much for this recipe and all the others! One of my students in my online teacher training class posted your muffin recipe on FACEBOOK…then I found you! I am a celiac and so I don’t eat grains! I had no idea about Primal eating! Thank you! Blessings, Karen in Indiana
This is definitely going in the recipe file! They look really light and fluffy. Are they?
I made these last night and added cinnamon to them. Delicious! Thank you so much for sharing this site with us!!
OMG! Just found your blog! Can’t wait to try these recipes after my show in 4 weeks!!!
So excited!!!
fitoriblog.com
oh man, choices, choices :))
looks so delish
Tried these, except subbing sucralose, and using pecans ontop (About half a cup) and were great.
Worked out the nutrition for each one with splenda and it came to:
111.8 Cal
10.1G Fat (1.0 Saturated, 2.3 Poly, 6.3 Mono)
10.6mg Cholesterol
76.6mg Sodium
112.6mg Potassium
4.2g Carbohydrate
1.0g Fiber
2.6g Protien
77% Fat, 14% Carb, 9% Protein.
I know splenda is hardly natural.. or healthy, but since I’ll only have one of these every 3 or 4 months, i’m willint to sacrifice for it.
I didn’t have any almond butter to make this, so instead I used 1/2 cup of chunky PB and 1/2 cup of Nutella hazelnut spread……absolutely amazing
I have not even eaten these yet, but if the batter is ANY indication. Wow. Delicious, simple, and quick.
Thanks for the recipe; love the blog.
Thanks. Definitely try these – you won’t be disappointed.
Oh my Gosh – just found your link from HEAB’s site when you mentioned Pumpkin – had to check it out! I can’t wait to make these!!! …
Could I sub Maple Syrup or a tsp. of Stevia/ &/or Applesauce for the honey maybe?
You could definitely sub maple syrup. The stevia would probably work, too, but not sure about the applesauce.
I made these! I used PB instead, because I have a jar I’m trying to finish off before I stop buying it. Haha, I don’t waste food.
They came out delish! I also added vanilla, spices, and salt. Yum!
Holy yumminess! I made these tonight with some modifications. Even the anti-primal boy liked them. I didn’t mention of course that they were primal…
Hey, love the blog and loved this recipe! I made it as is, but would like to bring out the pumpkin flavor on my 2nd try, and maybe reduce the almond butter taste. (I used trader joe’s almond butter with salt, rather than raw)
My thought was to sub some or all of the honey for pumpkin butter. Would this work? Should I add more pumpkin and less almond butter? I also plan on adding the pumpkin pie spices.
Thanks for any ideas!
Hi Mitchell, I think the honey is optional in that it is not necessary for the brownies to maintain their consistency, so feel free to leave it out. You could definitely substitute pumpkin butter but I wouldn’t add more than 1/3 cup for fear of the brownies getting overly moist. Glad you like the recipe!
I know that this is not primal, but I currently only have sugar and think these brownies would be awesome even with regular old sugar. The question is, should I add some water to substitute for the missing liquid of honey or make any other modifications? Thanks,
Masha
Masha, I can’t say for sure what will happen but my impression of these is that 1) they are very moist, so a little less moist might not be a big deal and 2) most of the moisture comes from the pumpkin. Give it a shot! 🙂
These look great…anyone substitute for the egg?
Hi!
Have you posted the Try it Day handouts yet? What a great idea! I would love to try and implement them! Thanks!
These are great! My kids loved them. Thank you for the recipe 🙂
I’ve been eating paleo for a week, and my craving for bread today almost put me over the top. So I went online for a little moral support and found your site. Good thing I did, because these bars are amazing. Would never guess they were flourless. Added vanilla and pumpkin pie spice. Delicious!