When Grok indulges

Brownie with whipped cream

   I'm not sure the photo does this yummy treat justice, but I made the Walnut Meal Brownies from Mark Sisson and Jennifer Meier's Primal Blueprint Cookbook and they were a big hit with the family for a dessert treat.
   Sisson's recipe calls for 1 3/4 cup walnut meal (I just put properly soaked and roasted walnuts in the food processor and made a meal from that), 3/4 cup Dutch process cocoa, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt, 2 large eggs, 1 cup coconut milk, 1/2 cup honey or maple syrup, 2 tsp vanilla extract and 1/3 cup melted virgin coconut oil and any additional walnuts for topping.  He has you mixing all the dry ingredients together and then mixing the eggs, coconut milk, maple syrup or honey and then adding the melted coconut oil and mixing wet and dry ingredients together.  You pour into a greased pan and bake at 350 degrees until done which is about 35 or 40 minutes. 
  After making them and adding the whipped cream because I thought it would taste better that way (and they did :), I have a few tweaks that I will make for the next time.  I personally don't like the taste of the baking soda and powder in the brownie mix and so I would be willing to make it more like a brownie pudding and serve it in a bowl to get rid of the baking powder and soda.  Then you've got a wonderful chocolate, gooey treat that has really just the coconut milk and oil, nuts, eggs, maple syrup and a few other items.  I might even try cutting down the maple syrup a bit... I am not a fan of baking with honey as raw honey is such a special food I don't like to heat it.  But even if the brownies don't pop out of the pan picture perfect, they are great in a bowl with the whipped cream on top!  While I admit cave man probably never ate quite like this, you are having a treat made from real food and is a treat with some redeeming value.  Cave man never had it so good!   
Note:  My children saw this post and I thought I should mention that they say they loved the brownies with the original recipe and that they don't want to eat "brownie puddin".... so take that under advisement.  I myself plan to try it next time with at least less baking soda/powder to see what happens.  Let me know your results if you go "off recipe" and experiment like me!