Paleo Brownies

This fantasitic Paleo Brownie recipe comes to us from Firefighter and Crossfit athlete Tamra Boyce.  Tamra is a volunteer firefighter and EMT-B for just over two and a half years and recently moved to Coronado to pursue a career as a paid fire service member.  She is currently training at Crossfit Coronado and is one helluva an athlete.

She proudly boast of growing up with two older brothers and a father who is a Vietnam veteran and was Assistant Chief with Stinson Beach Fire Protection District  for over 22 years. With the importance of being fit and in a constant state of readiness in the fire service, she quickly discovered CrossFit and found it to be the best all encompassing workout around. Tamra states, "It's fun, competitive, engaging, always different, and most importantly, extremely effective. Diet is of course a huge part of being fit but by no means should this mean you can't have something great without all the processed garbage and refined sugars found in most food today".   We asked here to give us here favorite snack recipe and this is what she gave us.  Enjoy the Paleo brownies. Easy to make and guilt free.  Enjoy!

Ingedients:

• 1 3/4 cup walnut meal (purchased or ground in a food processor)
• 3/4 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 large eggs (room temperature)
• 1 cup coconut milk (room temperature)
• 1/2 cup honey or mayple syrup (I prefer mayple syrup, the honey flavor is a bit strong)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup extra virgin coconut oil (gently melted)
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts for topping (optional)
• Butter for greasing the pan (I prefer coconut oil)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Adjust oven rack to middle postion. Butter a 13x9x2 inch baking pan.

In a medium bowl, mix together dry ingredients until well blended. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk eggs for one minute, then add coconut milk, honey or maple syrup and whisk again. Add melted cocnut oil and whisk until completely blended.

Add wet mixture to dry ingredients and whisk well; be sure to scrape sides and bowl bottom so no pockets of ingredient remain. Batter will be thinner consistency then conventional brownies. Pour batter into prepared pan.  If desired, sprinkle chopped walnuts on top of batter. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completly before cutting.