There’s no escaping the fact that Great British Bake Off is back on our screens – this time, over on Channel 4 without Mary Berry, Mel and Sue, much to many peoples’ dismay. Love it or hate it, I’m quite enjoying the new take on the show so far – I’ve always been a fan of Noel Fielding and Prue Leith is of course an established name in the industry – the format is the same and the show-stoppers are always amazing to see!
While a lot of the bake aren’t necessarily ‘free from’ various allergens or vegan, that’s where Moo Free From Chocolates invited me to get involved in their Free From Bake Off challenge: To create a recipe using their Organic Original Baking Drops. My first thought when I received these chocolate chips was: cookie dough. And what would make a perfect partnership with that? Brownies, of course!
Made from apples, dates and oats as the main ingredients, while these may look and taste filthy, they are actually pretty healthy which is always a bonus 🙂 My husband James is a very honest and sometimes hard to please critique 😉 but he said these are one of the best things I’ve ever made so take his word for it!
Ingredients:
For the brownie layer –
- 150g cooked apples
- 100g dates, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes (I used Whitworths)
- 100g rolled oats (I used Quaker – can be gluten-free)
- 150g brown rice flour (I used Indigo Herbs)
- 75g coconut sugar or stevia (I used Natvia)
- 4 tablespoons cacao or cocoa powder (I used Lucy Bee)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 200ml almond milk (I used Alpro)
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil (I used Lucy Bee)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the cookie dough layer –
- 100g dates, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes
- 75g rolled oats
- 75g brown rice flour
- 75g coconut sugar or stevia
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 150ml almond milk
- 1 tablespoon smooth peanut butter (I used Pic’s)
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 75g Moo Organic Original Baking Drops
On your marks, get set, bake!
- First make the brownie layer: Place the cooked apples and drained dates into a food processor (I use my Ninja Kitchen Nutri Ninja Auto IQ) and blend until completely smooth.
- Add the remaining ingredients and whizz up until quite thick and smooth.
- Spoon out into your prepared tin and smooth out evenly to cover the base.
- Now clean out the food processor and place the cookie dough ingredients (apart from the chocolate drops) in and whizz up until quite thick and smooth. Stir in the chocolate drops.
- Carefully spoon over the cookie dough in dollops next to each other to cover then gently spread over.
- Bake for about 30 minutes until cooked through and slightly golden brown, then remove from the oven and leave to cool completely before cutting into squares. Enjoy!
