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Amazing Brownies (Real Food, Paleo)

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At some point or another, everyone needs a good, soft and chewy brownie.  Or two.  Did you make it through a hard day at work?  Eat a brownie!  Did you spend some extra time organizing your desk?  Eat a brownie!  Is it Monday?  You may need four brownies!

Paleo brownies normally rely on almond flour, coconut flour, tapioca starch, or a mixture, along with the usual cocoa powder, eggs, etc... and though I have tried many recipes (and I mean many!), I never really found one that was truly amazing.  I judge a brownie recipe by whether or not I want to eat it straight out of the oven.  It needs to be amazing enough to eat for breakfast.  Amazing enough to eat in the middle of the night because the brownies were calling my name and no one was looking, so they never actually made it to breakfast.  Sorry (not sorry).

These brownies are unique as they use cassava flour.  Cassava flour is made from the peeled and baked yuca root and is different than tapioca starch.  Although tapioca starch is made from the same plant, it is processed a little differently so it has retained less of the original fiber than cassava flour.

Cassava flour has been making its rounds within the Paleo community for a while now and I finally decided to give it a try.  I originally intended to make tortillas with the flour but decided on the brownies at the last minute and I am glad I did!  Cassava flour is great because it actually behaves much more like regular flour than any other grain-free substitutes I have worked with over the years and my family really loved this recipe.


Amazing Brownies


  • 2 1/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped (I used Ghirardelli)
  • 5 tablespoons palm shortening (or ghee, coconut or avocado oil)
  • 1 cup coconut sugar
  • 1/4 cup cassava flour (not tapioca starch)
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/4 cup raw honey
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8x8 pan well and set aside.

In a small bowl, melt the unsweetened chocolate and ghee together.  I did this in the microwave in 30-second increments and stirred each time until just melted.  Be careful not to heat the chocolate too much in the microwave because it can scorch!  Or, the unsweetened chocolate and ghee can be melted over a double boiler.

In another bowl, stir the coconut sugar, cassava flour and salt together.  Add the beaten eggs, honey and vanilla to the dry ingredients and stir well.  Finally, stir in the unsweetened chocolate mixture and make sure it is all well combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 35 minutes.  Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the 1/2 cup of chocolate chips in an even layer over the hot brownies.  After 5 minutes, use the back of a spoon or spatula to spread the melted chocolate chips over the brownies.

Cool completely before cutting into squares.


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