However, I can’t say the same thing about baking. I have been trying my hand in baking with alternative flours (spelt, brown rice, almond, buckwheat, etc.) and sugars (honey, dates, maple syrup, stevia, etc.) for over a year now and it has been a challenge, especially when it comes to creating my own recipes. Recipe adapted (with changes) from Amy Chaplin’s cookbook At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen. One cookbook that has been a tremendous resource on this subject is Amy Chaplin’s At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen (affiliate link). As I wrote about it in Fresh Peach and Walnut Tart recipe’s post, this book is a great source for those, who are like me, new to healthier baking. Also it hasn’t come out yet, but I am looking forward to getting my hands on Alanna’s (of Bojon Gourmet) new cookbook, Alternative Baker (affiliate link), for the same reason. She has a wealth of information on this subject and everything I made from her site turned out really good.
About this Vegan Spelt Flour Almond Butter Brownies Recipe:
I do not mean to go all Ina Garten on you by saying that you should use the best quality chocolate and cocoa powder you can get your hands on. However the truth is, if you want these to turn out really good the quality of chocolate you use matters. Here, I do not mean to say that you should get the most expensive one. Instead, I recommend using a chocolate brand that you think tastes the best. I love Valrhona and their cocoa powder for baking. Our local Whole Foods sells them in smaller portions making it more affordable than buying a pound of chocolate of the same brand. For almost all my baking, including this recipe, I use their 70% baking chocolate. The hands on time for the recipe is no longer than 20 minutes and it bakes in 30 minutes or so. I know that it will be hard to wait, but do your best to let it cool down before slicing. Amy suggests placing it in the fridge after it comes down to room temperature. Embarrassingly, I couldn’t wait that long but it still turned out amazing. The combination of almond butter, chocolate and sea salt is truly out of this world.
