The other night, I was hungry.
Like, really hungry. The bottomless pit kind, where there's no satiety in sight.
My husband was feeling it too. It seems one of us can't get the munchies at night without the other one following suit.
We're also on the same cycle.
Every full moon, I can expect a pointless, rowdy spat between us about something that I'll later look back on as one of the stupidest fights ever.
This hunger, though, was raging for something sweet, something chocolat-y, and staring at Foodgawker wasn't helping my situation much. Brownies and cookies and cakes, oh my! You bloggers and your pictures, making me crave sugary goodness at eight o'clock at night...blast!
After visually molesting a decadent-looking caramel-topped brownie, I embarked on a quest to make my own version, raw style.
Usually, when I set out to make treats of any kind, I try to be quite conservative with the sizing, but not this night. My husband and I agreed...er, rather I said and he nodded, that these should be something worth the trouble, worth the ingredients, worth a triple X food rating, worth waking up in the morning to a sugar hangover...and they are. 😀
XXX Sticky Brownie Bars (Vegan, Paleo)
Ingredients
- BROWNIES:
- 1 c. walnuts
- 1 c. oats (I use Country Choice Organic Oats) or another nut or seed of your choice if paleo or grain-free
- 5 T. cocoa powder
- ½ t. sea salt
- 6 ounces Medjool dates about 12
- 2 T. coconut oil
- 2 T. honey or maple syrup
- 1 t. vanilla
- 1 T. water
- CARAMEL:
- 3.5 ounces Medjool dates about 7
- 2 T. raw walnut butter or raw almond butter
- 1 T. maple syrup
- pinch sea salt
- ½ t. vanilla
- 1 T. dairy-free milk
Instructions
- BROWNIES:
- Process the nuts and oats (or more nuts/seeds) until a mealy consistency is achieved.
- Pulse in the cocoa powder and salt.
- Add in the dates and process until semi-incorporated
- Add in the oil, honey or maple syrup, vanilla, and water and process until the mixture is well combined and begins to clump together.
- Press the mix into a 7 x 5 inch Pyrex dish and set in the refrigerator.
- CARAMEL:
- Process the ingredients together until smooth and well combined.
- Spread atop the brownie layer.
- Chill first or just cut and enjoy, like we did.
- Store in the fridge.
Notes
Nutrition
These definitely hit the sweet spot, and they've received the firefighter stamp of approval, as the night I sprained my wrist, we passed one out to the medic on duty.
I was literally standing there, crying in pain, and my husband decided that that was the perfect opportunity to have someone critique the recipe! Truth be told, I think he was looking for an excuse to eat another one himself. >:-]
When is your favorite time of day to eat sweets?
I definitely like mine at night! It gives me something to look forward to and a reason to eat all of my healthy food throughout the day...because I'm a child, apparently.
Gabby @ the veggie nook
So I love this for many reasons and those reasons turn out to be exactly why I love your blog. Your recipes are so easily adaptable and friendly to people with allergies and intolerances. I recently found out I'm very intolerant to most tropical foods including banana (NO!) and coconut (THE HORROR!). So I felt sorry for myself for a while but now I'm excited to explore new ingredients. I think I could sub some nut butter for coconut oil in these and they would be very me-friendly. YAY 🙂 Thanks for being so awesome lady!
Emily
Ha! I'm in the exact same boat as you with FoodGawker right now, except it's 10 p.m. Love the ingredients you used, too... I plan to make these ASAP!
Lauren
Haha, that's hilarious, Emily! I hope you like these if you try them!
Thalia @ butter and brioche
what an awesome recipe.. definitely love how guilt free these brownie bars are! its so hard to find good raw & vegan recipes, thanks for sharing!
Lauren
Thanks Thalia! 🙂
Ceara @ Ceara's Kitchen
I can totally relate! My bf and I always seem to have chocolate cravings in the evening and I can only imagine that theses brownies sure do hit the spot! I can't wait to try these decadent looking brownies! I love that the serving size is 1/9th of the pain - because sometimes you just need a big brownie!!!
juyne
OMG!!!! My daughter and I made these at breakfast but we used cashew butter. Holy heaven!!!! That caramel is so going on banana "ice cream"!!!! Thank you 🙂
Lauren
Haha, yum! What an awesome breakfast! 🙂 So glad you both enjoyed them!
Mike @TheIronYou
Soooo, full moon = fights? Maybe you guys are some sort of werewolves...
But I'm sure those amazing brownie bars can be utilized to settle any kind of dispute between you two, right? 😉
Megan | Allergy Free Alaska
Oh my!! I need these! 😉 Great recipe, Lauren!
Lauren
Thanks so much Megan! 😀
Ashley | Blissful Basil
Lauren, I feel like your craving has worked its way over to me! Oh my gosh, I feel like I need to ditch my morning to-do list and make these right now. Love that caramel topping dripping over the edges! Yum!
Lauren
Lol, thanks Ashley! Brownie-anything is alluring any time of day. 😀
Anoushe
These look great! Did you use medjool dates for the caramel as well? Thanks for all your amazing recipes..I can't wait to get home to my food processor 🙂
Lauren
Thanks Anoushe! I did use Medjool dates in both layers, sorry if that was unclear. 🙂