Cashew Butter & Rye Brownies with Sucanat
You know when you get a new cookbook and you just want to try out all of the recipes? Well that’s definitely how I’ve felt with Joshua McFadden’s Grains for Every Season. So, in addition to the Quinoa Cookies from last week that came from this cookbook, I’m making one more recipe adapted from his cookbook - these Cashew Butter and Rye Brownies. I’ve made some adaptations to the recipe - most notable is swapping out the sugar for Sucanat and reducing the overall amount of sweetener by quite a bit as well.
As a reminder, Sucanat is an abbreviation for “sucre de canne naturel” or natural cane sugar and is a less processed, more natural sugar in comparison to granulated white sugar/brown sugar. Due to the minimal processing involved in producing Sucanat, it retains more of its nutritional properties as well. The minimal processing does mean that the granules of Sucanat are larger and not uniform though so when adding it to recipes, including this one, you will need to grind it in a coffee or spice grinder first so that it can better incorporate in with the the rest of the ingredients.
These brownies are incredibly decadent and definitely worth trying out with whatever nut butter you might have on hand. Enjoy!
Makes one 9x13 pan
Ingredients
6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
500 grams (3 cups) dark chocolate chips
300 grams (2 cups) Sucanat, grind in coffee/spice grinder
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
120 grams (1 cup) rye flour
30 grams (1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
80 grams (1/3 cup) cashew butter [I used this cashew cacao spread from Artisana Organics]
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan with a little bit of butter.
Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler (or in the microwave).
In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, combine the Sucanat, eggs. and vanilla and mix on medium speed for about 5 minutes. Mix the melted chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and fold gently to blend.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder). Add the dry ingredients to the rest of the batter and mix until just blended.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Dollop the cashew butter over the top and use a knife or toothpick to make a swirl pattern. [Note: you may need to slightly warm your cashew butter if it is very thick and doesn’t seem like it would be easy to swirl.]
Bake for about 35 minutes, until the edges are cracked and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.
