There is nothing like being around wide-eyed adorable children to get you into the holiday spirit.
Today I brought on the youngest gluten- and dairy-free, low-sugar chefs you'll meet. Tia, age 8 and Talia, age 6 join us on Food as Medicine to make Flourless Chocolate Santa Hats!
There are two magic ingredients – one is black beans (shhh, no one will ever know they take the place of flour because they taste amazing)
And the other ingredient?
Well, I promised the kiddos I’d let them tell you themselves.
Recipe below.
Prep and cook time: 45 minutes
Makes 16 2-inch brownies
1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added black beans, drained and rinsed
3 large organic eggs
1/3 cup melted organic butter (or ghee), more for the baking dish
1/4 cup raw cacao powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla extract
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
1/2 cup stevia-sweetened chocolate chips
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch baking pan. Place the black beans, eggs, melted butter or ghee, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla extract, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth. Remove the blade and gently stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Transfer mixture to the prepared pan. Bake the brownies for 30 to 35 minutes or until just set in the center. Cool before cutting into squares.
Coat each square with SoDelicious Coconut “Cool Whip” (found in the frozen section at Whole Foods), top with an organic strawberry dipped in the cool whip and enjoy your Santa Hat!
If you'd like to see more of Tia and Talia, they have their own YouTube Channel and lots of delicious and fun recipes here or visit their website at tiatalia.com
These are adorable and I plan to make a batch today. Would you possibly be able to supply any adjustments for high altitude? I live in the mile-high city of Denver, CO. Thanks!
Hi Kathy, Since these are flourless you may not need to make any adjustments for high altitude baking, but a quick online search may provide some additional tips. Happy Cooking! Stacey, TWJ Team Member
These look amaaaazing! Thank you Christa! Do you ever bake with Xylitol? If so, how would substitute for this recipe?
Great idea for a holiday dessert. Thank you!!!
Where can you find gluten free vanilla extract?
At any health food store. We get ours at Whole Foods. 🙂
Thank You for another treat to put into my collection of
Christa-approved recipes. Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Happy Holidays!
My pleasure, Jenny! Happy Holidays!
I just want to take a quick minute to let you know how impressive your work is. You cover every base. In my small group of Go-to people, you are at the top (others are JJ Virgin, Dr. Petrucci, Terry Wahls). But just tonight I needed to reorder Trace Minerals and checked out your site and this statement I found on your site is one of the reasons that you are the VERY BEST! And, Thank You. Here is the statement that once again proved that you leave no stone un-turned. Thank You! You are a True Professional and We Need You!
“Our current favorites are (note: brands change quality all the time, so we are always researching and checking)”
Hi Jenny, Thank you for your kind email. I have forwarded it to Christa as well. Happy Holidays! Stacey, TWJ Team Member
How are these dairy free if they contain butter? Really? Be truthful in all of you education. The lay person can really become confused and I’m sure you have a TON of people following you Christina who are trying so hard to heal.
Dairy free means no milk. There is nothing wrong with grass fed butter and it has good healthy fats in it.
I share the concern. Butter is made from milk – how can it not be considered dairy?
You can use ghee, Karen or coconut oil instead of butter.
The recipe does not claim to be dairy free. It appears that the two little chefs are gluten/dairy free / low sugar chefs. Perhaps that’s where the confusion is.
Thank you for your help with clarifying. 🙂
Hello Shae, you’ll see another reader clarified that these are Flourless Chocolate Santa Hats (meaning gluten free). We were referencing the chefs as dairy free (namely, Talia) but butter works for her. You may use ghee or coconut oil in lieu of the butter in this recipe. In future commenting, please read/watch the content in its entirety prior to posting with this kind of unnecessary tone.
Christa- thanks for your reply. I didn’t mean any hostility in the comment, just asking for complete transparency in your education. At the beginning of your interview, you stated that these brownies are so healthy because they are gluten and dairy free and sugar-free. People are looking for just that type of recipe. However, people get confused when you tell them that butter in a dairy free recipe is okay. I am not implying that you said that, as you did not. However, Erin, in the comments above, believes of that butter is OK for a dairy free eater. We can’t imply that. No big deal, I just wanted to point out to your listeners that did this recipe is not dairy free.
Is the reason you use coconut sugar, that it contains mainly sucrose and only very little fructose? I find this all very confusing and don’t understand how this is any better if the goal it to reduce sugar.
It’s better as she said it contains one third the amount of sugar as regular sugar. It’s all stated in the video.