Dark Chocolate Brownie Bites

I'm positive that I will never get tired of brownie recipes.

When I search the word "brownie" on the search bar on this blog, there are five pages of results.  Five pages!!  That should be proof enough that I love me some brownies.

Some of my favorite recipes include my Waterfall Brownie Bites, Healthy Brookies, and Fudgy Pumpkin Crownies.  I can now gladly add this recipe to that list.

Despite the absurd amount of brownie recipes, each one is different in some way or another.  Some use oil, some use avocado, and some are fat free.  Some use rolled oats and some use flour.  Some are sweetened with honey, some maple syrup, and some banana.  The point is, each brownie recipe is special, and this one is no different.

I don't want you thinking that I'm just throwing a recipe you've already seen at you!

So what's different about these brownies?

I decided to experiment with using melted chocolate as well as cocoa powder to add chocolate flavor.  It worked great, and the chocolate chips definitely helped lend a rich chocolate flavor.  I also used oat flour, so these brownie bites are gluten free.

Aaaand these brownies are super duper delicious.  I know you're gonna love them!

You can see a couple avocado chunks in this one.  Don't worry, you can't taste them!

Dark Chocolate Brownie Bites

• 1 1/2 cups oat flour
• 1/4 cup special dark cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips, melted
• 2 tbsp mashed avocado
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease a mini muffin tin or a donut hole pan.  Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.  Add applesauce, honey, melted chocolate, avocado, milk, and vanilla and mix until a thick batter forms.  Scoop about 1 tbsp of batter at a time into prepared pan.  You will probably need to use two pans, or make two batches.  I used one mini muffin pan and a donut hole pan as well.  Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, until brownies are firm and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Recipe makes 18-20 brownie bites.  Store leftovers in the fridge.

Revisited Recipe of the Day:

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Oat Flour Blueberry Muffins + Some Info on Oat Flour

I want to take some time to talk about oat flour.  Maybe you've noticed some recipes on this blog using it, and maybe you haven't.  Either way, oat flour is one of my new favorite ingredients.  I was going to dedicate a whole post to it, but instead I decided to just shove everything I want to share into one big post with a recipe for blueberry muffins at the end.  Sound good?  Good.

So for starters, what is oat flour?  It really is as simple as rolled oats ground into a fine flour.  I've read that you can use a blender, food processor, or coffee grinder to make it, but I've really only had success with a coffee grinder.  Sure, a food processor or blender will break down the oats, but if you really want a fine constituency, one that's like other flours, a coffee grinder is the way to go.

Once your oat flour is made you can store it in a container until its time to use.  I usually don't think that far ahead, though, so most of the time I make just as much flour as I need for a certain recipe right before baking said recipe.  Oat flour is easy enough to make that this isn't a huge hassle.

Made with gluten free oats, oat flour can be made completely gluten free, which is great if you don't want to use a bunch of funky flours.  I'm also 90% sure that's it's lower in calories than other flours, bt you'd have to double check on that one.  My favorite part about using it, however, is the taste it lends baked goods.  Oats have this slight sweetness which comes though when you bake with oat flour, especially if the recipe doesn't have any super strong flavors to cover up the oats.  I love the taste and it also means I don't have to use as much sweetener which is always a plus in my book.

Sooo, that's about it.  Hopefully you'll consider using oat flour in some recipes in the future now that you know a bit more about it.  Maybe a delicious oat flour blueberry muffin recipe will help motivate you?  I'm thinking that's a definite yes.

Oat Flour Blueberry Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups oat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup arrowroot starch/flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or another mild tasting vinegar)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 egg white
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350F.  In a large bowl, mix together oat flour, baking powder, salt, and arrowroot.  In another bowl, combine milk and vinegar.  Let sit 5 minutes.  Add vanilla, honey, and egg white to bowl with milk.  Add wet ingredients to dry.  Mix until a smooth batter forms.  Mix in blueberries until incorporated.  Divide batter evenly between 12 greased muffin tin cups.  Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and muffins are firm.  Store in an airtight container.  Makes 12 muffins.

Note:  These muffins do not rise very much, so they're more like bluberry cakes.  That does not, however, make them any less delicious!

(Sorry for an weird formatting on this post.  I'm travelling right now and am using a different computer than normal)