THE WORLD’S BEST LOW-CARB KETO BROWNIES
I love cooking low-carb and for the most part as a trained chef I don’t have many issues transforming a high carb recipe into something with many less carbs. The two biggest challenges I have had are bread and chocolate brownies. I had an absolute killer recipe for regular brownies before going low carb, they were fudgy, buttery, soft with a crunchy top, milky and creamy and arguably the best brownies I’ve ever had.
When attempting to develop a low carb brownie, I ran into immediate issues, mainly because sugar is the number one ingredient in a brownie. Although we all know how bad sugar is for us and I certainly avoid it at all costs, there is no denying that it is a wonderful ingredient. The thing about sugar is it makes recipes sticky, fudgey, moist and it is the gold standard when it comes to making successful sweets. Remove the sugar from a recipe, where the sugar is the main ingredient and it can be difficult, if not impossible to recreate something of the same standard.
Even using Sola sweetener, which I developed, I was still having trouble getting to a gold standard recipe that would truly satisfy my taste buds and have the mouthfeel and texture of a regular brownie. I have been working on creating a brownie recipe worthy of posting and signing off on for over 2 years and after much testing and an extra push of having to demo a low-carb brownie recipe on live TV, I finally came up with the perfect recipe. I would argue that these low-carb brownies are the best in the world, yes, they are that good! They are soft and decadent, fudgey and moist, chocolatey, creamy, all the things you need from a brownie.
So give these brownies a go and be amazed by the results, I use sola sweetener which is going to give you the best results, see my sweetener guide here, if you can’t get hold of Sola sweetener for other sweetening options.
Makes: 16 servings
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 35 minutes
ingredients
wet mixture
3 free-range eggs
6 free range egg yolks
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons (165 g) Sola sweetener
6 tablespoons cultured buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Melted chocolate mixture
13 ounces (370 g) no added sugar chocolate, chopped (lily’s premium baking chocolate is a good option and is widely available)
2 sticks (230 g) unsalted butter
Dry mixture
1 cup (120 g) finely ground almond flour
1/4 cup (50 g) dried, powdered milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon xanthan gum (this helps bind the brownie together, you can substitute with 2 tablespoons of white flour if you are not worried about adding a few carbs)
Topping
¼ cup (25 g) finely chopped pecans (or walnuts)
directions
1. Pre-heat the oven to 325F/165c
2. Place the chopped chocolate and butter in a bowl resting over a pan of lightly simmering water, stir occasionally until thoroughly melted.
3. Place the whole eggs, egg yolks, Sola sweetener, cultured buttermilk and vanilla extract into a mixing bowl and whisk until well combined.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together the almond flour, baking powder, xanthan gum and salt, mix well until combined.
5. Once the chocolate and butter mixture is fully melted, whisk until smooth and glossy and then pour into the whisked egg mixture, then add the almond flour mixture. Mix thoroughly until all the ingredients are combined and the brownie batter is smooth.
6. Pour the mixture into a 9x9 inch square baking pan lined with baking parchment and sprinkle over the chopped pecans or walnuts and bake for 35 minutes (30 minutes if using a fan assisted oven) until set, to test for this, shake the pan, if the brownie batter wobbles, it won’t be done so give it few more minutes and check again. Once cooked, remove from the oven, and cool on a wire rack, before removing the brownie from the pan and cutting into 16 individual servings.
Chef Tip
Place the cooked brownie into the fridge for 2 to 3 hours to thoroughly chill before portioning, this will allow you to cut perfect servings with ease. Simply leave the brownies out at room temperature to soften.
