Chocolate Matcha Brownies

We Are Going to Toronto,
And Building a Table!

Kinda can’t wait, still haven’t packed because I’ve been busy building a table actually.  A farmhouse dining room table and two benches to go underneath, with a matching coffee table to come next, perhaps draping some barn style lights overhead as a makeshift chandelier?  Haha, it’s been a labor of love!! I followed this youtube video to follow the basics, then altered the design to my liking (different size table altogether, changed the top board layout, made it thicker, stain a different color, etc).  I spent 7+ hours in home depot (hand picking my wood, cutting it, finding the rest of the supplies, etc), 6 hours sanding everything, 4 hours painting thus far, and maybe 6 hours assembling.  My husband and I have been assembling it, and everything was going smoothly until we had to nail in 3″ finishing nails into thick 2″ wood… The nails just wouldn’t go through, they’d get stuck, and bend, and take 30 minutes (no joke) to pull out!!! So our neighbor gave us some intelligent advice…drill pilot holes ;D  Aka find a drill bit that is just a tiny bit thinner than the nail we are using, and pre-drill the hole so the nail goes in smoothly and straight. Brilliant!! I did that last night, and now I feel like I can get the entire thing done even with out my husbands help! Whaddya know, I’m not useless! 😀  I will say I have yet to find a good solution to achieve the stain color I want on the top…because what I want is not really one color, it’s like a mix match of colors beautifully blended together.  I’m testing on scrap now.

I hope we can at least get the entire thing assembled and standing before we have to go to Canada this weekend!!  We got 2 awesome Airbnb’s to stay in this Sunday-Thursday.  We will be going again with our best friend Nikisha (that we went to Florida with in April) and our husky Ashka!  I’m stoked to shoot some video on this trip too, just for fun and practice.  Speaking of videography, care to see how our trip in April went when we brought Ashka on board our flight to Florida?  I filmed our experience going through the airport with Ashka, and then added in a bit of fun times that we had during our time in Florida.   My friends are too funny.  We also tried teaching Ashka how to swim and filmed that, which was funny too, but I don’t think she enjoyed it much.  Overall I think she had a fun time with us.  While I was panicking on the plane (I have serious anxiety of flying), she didn’t even seem to mind it!  Go figure!

Back to Baking Brownies!

OK so back to the reason you are here for!! BROWNIES!!! Let me tell you something, I know I’m a sucker for chocolate, so perhaps I am a bit bias, but I really really love these. I’ve already made 2 batches in the past like month because I love them so much!  I’ve had 1 batch even last me like 1.5 weeks, but I don’t recommend waiting that long to eat them because they start to loose flavor after 5 days or so.  These are so good, AND best of all, they are Gluten Free!! And they are quick and easy to make.  They have a cake like texture to them, and the frosting is creamy and delicious.  I love that these are made mostly out of almond flour, because almond flour is packed with protein, it’s a unique flour that is not just all starch, like most other flours.  Of course if you are allergic to almonds, you can substitute this with all purpose gluten free flour.

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I sneak in a hint of hemp protein in the frosting (it works well because it’s green too like Matcha powder lol) so I make these brownies into a bit more of a protein power-house dessert for before I go walking on the trails with Ashka.  Plus Matcha helps boost energy and increase metabolism, perfect for a pre-workout snack too!! Matcha powder has antioxidants, fiber and chlorophyll, so it’s a healthy and tasty way to flavor the frosting.  BTW the frosting stays on the brownie well in the fridge days later when you pre-frost them.  I’ve fed these to my friends during Anime night, and they enjoyed them too.  Even my pickier husband wanted more!  I never got tired of these throughout the week, matter of fact I literally looked forward to eating them throughout the day when I got home from work.  So go ahead, treat yourself to a healthier alternative dessert for a whole week!  You won’t be sorry ;P

Chocolate Matcha Brownies

Print

Serves: 12 Brownies Prep Time: 5 Minutes Cooking Time: 30 Minutes 30 Minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

Ingredients

• BROWNIE:
• 1 Cup - Almond Flour
• 1/2 Cup - Cocoa Powder
• 1/3 Cup - Coconut Sugar
• 1 tsp - Baking Powder
• 2 'Eggs' (use a baking egg replacement powder, or 2 Tbsp Chia Seeds or crushed Flax Seeds to 5 Tbsp water mixture and let sit for 5 minutes)
• 3 Tbsp - Maple Syrup
• 1/2 Cup - Melted Coconut Oil
• 1 tsp - Vanilla Extract
• Dash of Sea Salt
• -
• FROSTING:
• 1 Package - Vegan Cream Cheese (I used 'Follow Your Heart')
• 4 Tbsp - Organic Cane Sugar
• 3 Tbsp - Matcha Powder
• 1 Tbsp - Hemp Protein

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven 350F.
2. Mix together your dry brownie ingredients, and then add your vegan 'egg' replacement (if using chia or crushed flax seeds, mix together with water and set aside in a bowl for 5 minutes, or until gelatinous and thick).
3. Mix together the remaining brownie ingredients, and pour evenly into a well oiled low height baking tray.  I used a 9"x13" tray with oil sprayed parchment paper.  If you want thicker brownies, get a smaller tray that has higher walls to pour your batter in.
4. Bake for 20-30 minutes, poke with a toothpick to test if it is cooked all the way through.
5. Next prepare your frosting by scooping out a whole package of vegan frosting into a small mixing bowl (there are lots of options out there no a days! You can go with Daiya, Tofutti, or I used Follow Your Heart).  Add your maple syrup and matcha powder, and stir until everything is creamy smooth (if you just took your cream cheese out of the fridge, it might need a moment to warm up before you can stir it well. Place it on the stove top so it can gather heat from your brownies baking)!
6. When your brownies are finished, take them out and let them cool first before frosting your brownies (or else the frosting will melt and get watery on the surface).
7. Bite in and enjoy!! 🙂

Notes

These keep well in the fridge for one week, just place them in a container or cover them with plastic wrap and enjoy cooled when you are ready to eat.