Okay, so I know I say this all the time, but I think I've found my most FAVOURITE chocolate recipe yet!! I just NEEDED to get this recipe up for you, because I am completely obsessed with these delicious dark chocolate ZUCCHINI brownies!! I truely can't believe how yummy they are, and how much like brownies they actually are.

What makes these even better is the fact that they are gluten free, and can be nut free too! Woo!
I'll get straight to it.

INGREDIENTS
Brownies:
1 cup shredded zucchini, squeezed of ALL excess moisture.
1 large egg
1/2 cup tahini (hulled or unhulled)
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup raw cacao (or cocoa)
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon pink salt
2 tablespoons coconut oil (melted & cooled)
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips (dairy free if desired)
Optional: 1/2 cup chopped up walnuts

Chocolate Icing: 6 tablespoons raw cacao (or cocoa)
4 tablespoons coconut oil (melted & cooled)
2 tablespoons maple syrup
Pinch of pink salt
Optional: Dark chocolate chips to decorate
Optional: Extra sprinkle of pink salt or sea salt for on top

Preheat oven to 175 celsius. Line a 8x8" pan with baking paper, and spray with nonstick cooking spray. If your coconut oil (for the brownie ingredients) is hard, gently melt it over the stove and set it aside to cool.

In a large bowl, add the zucchini, making sure it is squeezed of ALL excess moisture with a paper towel. Next, add in your egg, tahini, maple syrup, coconut sugar and vanilla. Stir until smooth and well combined. Gently stir in the raw cacao powder into the batter, mixing until well incorporated. Next add in the coconut flour, baking soda, salt and finally the melted coconut oil. Stir until well combined. Fold in chocolate chips (and walnuts if using any).

Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the centre comes out with just a few crumbs attached. It should not be completely wet, but a little gooeyness in just fine. Once cooled a little, removed from pan, but keep in the baking paper to allow to cool completely.

Important: Do not put icing on the brownie until it’s completely cool.

For the icing: If your coconut oil (for the icing ingredients) is hard, gently melt it over the stove and set it aside to cool. Once cooled, add your cacao powder, maple syrup and salt. Mix until well combined. Place brownie (still wrapped in baking paper) back into the pan that you baked it in. Pour icing over the brownie, and decorate with the dark chocolate chips (if using them) and an extra sprinkle of salt, and place the pan into the fridge to set for at least an hour. Once set, remove from baking paper and cut into 16 pieces.

Hot tip: Once you've cut them up, leave them in the fridge uncovered. They dry out a little around the edges which is perfect! It means they're a little crisp on the outside, and still soft and gooey on the inside. AMAZE. Trust me.

I have made these brownies a couple of different ways. The first time I just mixed all the brownie ingredients in a bowl, which worked well, but gave my arm a real workout as the tahini was quite hard to mix in. The second way was in the Thermo, which was much easier. If you do it in a thermo, make sure to add your zucchini and chocolate chips in after the rest of the ingredients though, so that you can and pop it on reverse to just mix it in, not cut it up.

I hope you enjoy! I have made three whole batches of these brownies now, and I'm about to make a 4th. Not even kidding! Soooo good. The whole family love them!

Leave me a comment or tag me on Instagram if you make them, I'd love to hear what you think!!

- A M Y  D A V I S

Over a year ago now, I bought these gorgeous little Silicone Ice Cream Moulds from Alyce Alexandra's. I'm a little embarrassed to say that it's taken me THIS LONG to actually get them out and use them! I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to make anything good enough with them to do them justice, and I didn't want to waste the wooden sticks that come with it. How silly is that?!

I'm so, so glad that I finally worked up the courage to use them, and I'm over the moon with how these turned out!! They are delicious, and made with healthy ingredients. We will definitely be making them more and more as we head into this summer weather! Bring on the December heat.
I decided to try the Snickers Mousse recipe in the moulds as a base, but popped a banana in too. Side note - I was delighted that the mixture filled up 6 Ice Creams PERFECTLY. Then I drizzled over a Chocolate sauce, and sprinkled on some Crushed Peanuts.

Yum, yum, yum. Definitely give this one a go. You'll need Silicone Ice Cream Moulds, and wooden sticks.

INGREDIENTS
Snickers Ice Cream:
1 Large Banana
1 cup of cold solid Coconut Cream
3 tablespoons of Natural Peanut Butter
1 tablespoon of Honey
1 tablespoon of Maple Syrup
1 tablespoon Cocoa or Raw Cacao
1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
Pinch of Salt

Chocolate Sauce:
1 tablespoon of Coconut Oil (melted)
1 1/2 tablespoons of Cocoa or Raw Cacao
1 tablespoon of Maple Syrup
1 tablespoon of Honey
Pinch of Salt

Topping:
Crushed Peanuts

These are super easy to make, but there is some time involved, because you'll need the Ice Creams to set before you can remove them from your moulds. Okay, here goes.

Get out your silicone moulds, and pop the little wooden sticks in. If you've bought the moulds from the TM Shop, and it's your first time using them, you'll notice that the spot where you insert the wooden sticks is thinly sealed. Just get a sharp knife and carefully poke a small hole through, just enough so that you'll be able to insert your wooden stick.

Blend up all your Ice Cream ingredients really well, until it's smooth. I used my Thermomix, but you can use a high speed blender or food processor. Once blended well, pour your mixture into 6 silicone moulds. As a general rule, I like to put the silicone moulds on top of a thin chopping board before filling them, just to make transferring them to the freezer that little bit easier. This should fill them up just about perfectly! Pop the Ice Creams into the freezer overnight.

Once they have hardened up, remove them from the moulds carefully and pop them on a tray or chopping board lined with baking paper. Then pop them back into the freezer until your Chocolate Sauce is ready for drizzling.

Mix together your Chocolate Sauce ingredients. If your coconut oil is solid, put it in a little milk pan over the stove on low heat to melt it. Once melted, remove it from the stove and add the rest of the ingredients, mixing them together to combine.

Keep stirring it until you find a good sauce thickness for drizzling over the Ice Creams. As the sauce cools, it thickens up. If it gets too thick, pop it back on heat for a minute, to thin it out a little. When you let it run off your spoon, you want it to be like a thick honey texture.

Once you're happy with the thickness, take your Ice Creams out of the freezer. Drizzle your sauce over the Ice Creams, in any way you like. Depending how much you want to cover them, you might have some sauce left over. Sprinkle on your Crushed Peanuts, and pop your Ice Creams back into the freezer for 5 - 10 minutes.
Handy tip - you can just pour out any left over sauce onto a tray lined with baking paper and pop it in the freezer for 5 - 10 minutes. YUM.
Also.. can we just take a moment to admire how adorable the Silicone Moulds are?! It's the sweetest little shape, and actually a really good treat size. There are 3 Ice Creams per mould, and I bought 2 of the moulds. So that gives me 6 Ice Creams in total!

Alyce Alexandra has heaps of nifty little accessories and some great recipes. Definitely go check her out, and get yourself something.

Some things on my list are:
- Dariole Moulds (I am already dreaming up the possibilities with these ones!)
- Heart Ice Cream Moulds
- TM Blade Brush  (This one would seriously be so handy!!)
- Bar Moulds
- Spoon Spatula (Again, SO handy!)
- Appliance Mat (I'm always nervous about protecting my Thermo scales!)
- Linen Apron (I've always wanted a cute linen apron!)

Okay. Go get started! I want to see your finished Ice Creams, so tag me! X

- A M Y  D A V I S

I am a big fan of just making something quick when you have that sudden craving for something sweet. This happens rather often if I'm being honest! I stumbled across this Snickers Mousse from Wholefood Simply, and I was intrigued! I've made things with Coconut Cream before, but they always just seem to end up tasting like Coconut Cream!

This however, is devine! So I had to share this recipe with you, but full credit obviously goes to Wholefood Simply. See her original recipe here! And go follow her Instagram for delicious recipes.

INGREDIENTS
Mousse:
1 cup of cold solid Coconut Cream
3 tablespoons of Natural Peanut Butter
1 tablespoon of Honey
1 tablespoon of Maple Syrup
1 tablespoon Cocoa or Raw Cacao
1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
A pinch of Salt

Toppings:
Crushed Peanuts
Maple Syrup
Dark Chocolate

I decided not to use Dark Chocolate as a topping, but I did use the Crushed Peanuts and Maple Syrup. Mmmm. So good.

Okay, let's do it!

Firstly, Bianca explains how to prep the Coconut Cream by doing the following:

Use the solid component of a 270ml tin of Coconut Cream that has been stored in the fridge. Simply tip your COLD can of Coconut Cream upside down, and open the bottom end with a can opener. Drain off the liquid a little, and you'll be left with the solid component. 

Once you've got that, spoon it out into a bowl. Add the rest of the Mousse ingredients and mix them together. I just used a spoon, and it worked perfectly. Bianca suggests using hand-held beaters or a processor. So do whatever you're most comfortable with.

Spoon the Mousse out into serving bowls, add the toppings and then place in the fridge to set a little. Or if you're anything like me, just eat it straight away. I actually love the soft mousse texture!

DELISH!

THANK YOU BIANCA
for this phenomenal recipe!
Enjoy!

- A M Y  D A V I S

I have been so busy lately, and have felt a little run off my feet trying to juggle a dozen balls in the air. BUT, I couldn't keep this recipe from you any longer! You definitely need to make the most of this delicious, warm dessert while this weather is still so cold. I have had more of these in the last week than I'd care to admit - but they are actually so insanely good, really filling, and super quick to make! I may or may not have even had one of these for lunch the other day! But you didn't hear it from me.
INGREDIENTS
Cake:
1 egg
4 tablespoons of Almond Meal
2 tablespoons of Cocoa or Raw Cacao
1 tablespoon of Honey
1 tablespoon of Maple Syrup
1 tablespoon of Coconut Milk

Sauce:
1 heaped tablespoon of Honey
1 heaped tablespoon of Maple Syrup
1 heaped tablespoon of Natural Peanut Butter
1/2 tablespoon of Cocoa or Raw Cacao
Sprinkle of Crushed Peanuts to decorate

Ya'll ready for this?! Okay, let's do it.
I'm actually so excited for you to try this, and my mouth is watering as I type!

SO. Crack your egg into a bowl, and whisk it. Leave the whisk in your bowl, and then add the rest of the cake ingredients in the order listed. Stir everything together slowly with the whisk, and as it mixes together you can whisk faster and faster to combine well. Pour the cake mixture into a mug of your choice and then pop it in the microwave for 2 minutes.

While the cake is in the microwave, get a small bowl and mix together all the sauce ingredients (except the crushed peanuts) with a spoon. By the time the sauce is nicely combined, the cake should be finished! Take the cake out of the microwave, and pour the sauce on top. Sprinkle some crushed Peanuts on top, and it's all finished! 

Let it sit for a few minutes if it's too hot. And then.. devour at own risk!! Because I guarantee you'll make it again. And again.. and again.. and again!
Enjoy, and let me know if you love it as much as I do!

- A M Y  D A V I S