Egg-Free, Paleo Brownies

OK, so the brownies I was making in the winter were a big hit. But, then I had this friend who was like, "Holly, my family cannot have eggs. What can you do for us?" And, I'll admit, going egg-free has given me pause. Dairy is easy to replace, I have found. Gluten isn't even that hard. But eggs? Eggs have been the final frontier. I am finding more and more that you can't just replace eggs with some kind of egg replacer willy-nilly, and expect the recipe to be great. A lot of times, making a recipe egg-free necessitates reconsidering the whole process.

Back to the brownies. My friend has a family full of chocolate fiends, and she just found out they can't have eggs anymore. She needed brownies, stat. And, this recipe came out as a result. I am using ghee, which makes these brownies casein-free but not fully dairy-free. Unlike my other recipe, I didn't use wet coconut fiber. And this time, I added some tapioca starch. This is because I used maple syrup instead of refined sugar. That makes this recipe technically Paleo.*

The recipe is actually pretty easy to put together. The trick is that you want to incorporate some of the dry ingredients into the fat over heat, which will help emulsify the mixture and make the rise easier in the oven (since you are not using eggs). Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Start with your ghee (Substitution: EVCO works just fine here) and melt it on the stove in a saucepan with the milk. I used cashew milk for this, but honestly it's up to you. While you do this, mix half of the dry ingredients into the maple syrup and set aside.

Then, you mix the other half of the dry ingredients in with the warmed milk/ghee mixture. Once it has been fully incorporated, remove from heat and whisk the two mixtures together. Add chocolate chips, as desired. Prepare the cupcake tin by oiling the cups with ghee or coconut oil. Scoop the batter into the cups. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

That's it! It is nice to have some tasty desserts that accommodate the needs of a variety of people on elimination diets. I hope to add more in time.

*I have read much in the way of discussion about the Paleo diet and chocolate chips. While I buy that cocoa powder is technically Paleo, most commercially-available chocolate chips are going to have something in it that is not Paleo-friendly. It is not my job to make you stick to your diet. So if you think you can use your Paleo chocolate chips in these brownies, fine by me. If not, these brownies are absolutely delicious, with or without them.

Egg-Free, Paleo Brownies
1 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup coconut flour

1/3 cup ghee
3/8 cup alternative milk

3/4 cup maple syrup
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp salt
Chocolate chips to taste

Heat up the ghee and milk in a saucepan. Mix in half of the first set of dry ingredients. Once incorporated, remove from heat. Pour all remaining ingredients into mixing bowl. Mix together, then mix with warm concoction. Once totally incorporated, scoop into cupcake tin. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes. Makes 9 brownies.