Chocolate Brownie Pie (GF and Sugar Free)

This is my new favorite brownie recipe. Quick (about 5 minutes to prep), easy, and so very good, this "light as air" brownie pie comes with a rich chocolate flavor. Best of all, it is gluten-free, sugar-free and dairy-free. (it does contain nuts and eggs). I just love desserts that are guilt free and still delicious.

We were invited to some friends' house for dinner last Sunday, and I brought a brownie pie straight from the oven. They happened to have fresh cream and strawberries on hand so, of course; we topped the brownies! No longer dairy-free, and a little less "healthy" but....special occasions call for special treats. With or without the toppings, this recipe is a keeper. (And thank you Mary Lane & Doug for a wonderful evening)

Chocolate Brownie Pie (GF and Sugar-Free)

2 eggs
3/4 cup coconut sugar
1/2 cup almond flour
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted, plus more to grease pan
1 teaspoon pure Tahitian vanilla
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds, pecans, etc)

Optional Toppings
ice cream
heavy cream
whipped cream
fresh fruit

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 inch pie plate with coconut oil. Set aside.

Add first seven ingredients to the bowl of a mixer. Beat until just mixed (3-4 minutes). Stir in nuts.

Pour into prepared pan and place in preheated oven. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until tester placed in the middle of the pie comes out clean.

Let rest a minimum of 15 minutes. Slice and serve warm with optional toppings if desired.

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Winter means comfort food at Food Network and this week we are celebrating Brownies. Do you have a favorite brownie recipe? Share in the comments section and/or link to your blog if you have one. And be sure to check out the delicious sounding recipes from my blogger friends and Food Network. 

Dishing with Divya: Beetroot Brownies
Creative Culinary: Chocolate Chip Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting
Elephants and the Coconut Trees: Brownies with Condensed Milk
Food for 7 Stages of Life: Easy Eggless Brownies Recipe
The Mom 100: Mexican Hot Chocolate Brownies
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Chocolate Brownie Pie (GF and Sugar Free)
Taste with the Eyes: Chili Chocolate Brownies with Gochugaru, Ginger, Sesame Seed, Olive Oil, Fleur de Sel
Swing Eats: Mexican Cocoa Brownies with an Almond & Pepitas Crust (gluten-free)
FN Dish: 10 Ways to Revolutionize Your Brownie Intake

best,

diane

napa farmhouse 1885

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California Girl in Taos

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would you like a recipe for lime marmalade pie?

our lime tree is now five years old...and, like our other trees, is producing a prodigious amount of beautifully scented, amazing tasting fruit. there is something fitting about limes, mandarin oranges and my beloved meyer lemon trees coming into season in the middle of december...and fruiting until almost march. when it is cold, grey and rainy...the smell and taste really help brighten the mood.

but...back to the amount of limes...can i just say tons? more than i can use and give away? so...the past few weeks have been spent experimenting with different and unusual ways to preserve the bounty. we always freeze a lot of lime juice to use throughout the year...and my recipe for lime margaritas sweetened with agave has become a oft requested favorite.(right mary and terry?) i have made meyer lemon marmalade for years...started selling it last winter and sold out by mid-summer...decided to try lime marmalade this year...what a hit! the marmalade is delicious and so i then experimented with lime & jalapeño marmalade...wow! instant best seller on the website and at studio-store...so many people asked for ideas as to how to use that i started creating recipes to send with each purchase.

i love the tart taste of the lime marmalade and thought it would be amazing in desserts. i found a million recipes for key lime pie...and they looked really good but quite sweet....so i decided to riff on that idea with a lime marmalade pie for something a bit different. i made one for peter topped with macadamia nuts...he ate the whole pie in a couple of sittings. a few days later we invited some friends over for a tree trimming party...i made another pie...and this time i added rum-soaked cranberries to the top of the meringue for color, taste...and just because the red was so "christmasy". caitlin said, "i don't usually like key lime pies, but this is delicious!" the real test was richard who told me key lime pie was his favorite dessert... oh no! this not a typical key lime pie...much more tart, so i was a bit worried...but he ate every bite, said he loved it AND took 2 pieces home....i consider that a success.

oh...about the pie photo...this is the first pie i made...of course i forgot to shoot the cranberry topped one...i am so sorry...it really was beautiful :)

so give the pie a chance...try our lime marmalade or use your favorite brand. if you cannot find it in your area, you can try substituting 1/2 cup key lime or regular lime juice with 1 tbsp lime zest...but really...if you can...use marmalade...makes all the difference...

lime marmalade pie1 1/4 c organic graham cracker crumbs
2 tbsp organic sugar
7 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
4 large eggs, divided
1 can (14 oz) organic sweetened condensed milk
1 jar (7 oz) lime marmalade

meringue ingredients

1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cream of tarter
1/4 cup organic sugar

1/2 cup macadamia nuts
1/4 cup fresh cranberries mixed with 2 tbsp sugar and soaked in 1/3 cup spiced rum-optional

preheat oven to 375 degrees. in a small bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs with the sugar. pour in 6 tbsp of the melted butter and mix together (i use a fork for this) until the butter in incorporated. test the mixture by pinching a bit between your thumb and forefinger. it should hold together...if not, add the remaining 1 tbsp butter and mix. pat the mixture into a buttered 9 inch pie plate ensuring the bottom and sides are covered. refrigerate for 30 minutes.

meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer, add the egg yolks and beat for 4 minutes using the wire whisk attachment. add the condensed milk and the lime marmalade and beat until the mixture is airy and thick...about 5 minutes. pour into graham cracker crust and bake until the filling is set (check after 15 minutes). remove from oven and set on wire rack.

make meringue by pouring the 4 egg whites, vanilla extract and cream of tarter into a very clean stainless steel bowl of a standing mixer. use the whisk attachment and beat until soft peaks form...add the sugar and beat again until stiff peaks form. spread the meringue on top of the pie while the pie is still warm and allow to cool. (note...i do not bake my meringue because i love the pure white look...but i always use organic eggs since they are not cooked in the meringue recipe. if you want, you can bake the pie for another 10 minutes once the meringue has been added...some people love the caramel color....so do whatever works for you.)

just before serving, toast the macadamia nuts in a dry skillet...stirring contantly...until just beginning to brown. sprinkle the nuts and the cranberries (if using) over the meringue and serve.

how is all of your holiday cooking and baking coming along? please tell me what you are making in the comments section of this post...

happy holidays!

best,

diane

napafarmhouse1885.com

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french apple pie anyone??

i am so enjoying our thanksgiving memories series...(can you say you are enjoying your own blog without sounding weird)?....i love the stories being told by my wonderful guest bloggers...and i love sharing the memories i have from my own family. all the posts focus on family, friends and good food being shared...today's story by sarah caron is a perfect example. she reminisces about preparing thanksgiving dinner as a child with the women in her family...and continuing that tradition with her own children. (she also shares a killer recipe for french apple pie!)

i very purposely titled this series thanksgiving memories...because, to me, telling your family's stories is a very important way to remember, to teach, to record, to question and to learn...don't wait...tell your stories to all the children in your family...inspire the next generation to keep the traditions going...

i am so grateful to sarah for taking the time to join the group of guest bloggers for this project. i "met" her via twitter...love her "tweets"...and was surprised she could find the time to write for another blog..(she writes for 4 of her own). i am most familiar with her blog sarah's cucina bella as she shares a lot of the posts via links on twitter...but to give you a more complete picture..i decided to cut and paste her bio from the fit fare site...here you go...

Sarah Caron (Editor of Fit Fare and Well Fed On The Town). As Managing Editor, Editorial, Sarah Caron helps to oversee the content on the Well Fed sites. Sarah developed a passion for writing in early childhood that has never waned. She is a writer, editor, mommy and wife, who is based in Connecticut and loves cooking for family and friends (and then taking photos of everything). When she’s not hard at work on Well Fed, Sarah works as an editor for a top educational publisher. She also writes a personal cooking blog, Sarah’s Cucina Bella, and is author of Families Eat Together, due out this year from Ladder Press. She has a bachelors degree in political science from Barnard College.

whew!! and the bio misses her blog the voice of mom and the website she knows ..... i thought writing for one blog was a lot of work. thank you again sarah..i love your story..AND...i love the pie recipe....i am going to try it out this weekend..just cannot wait for thanksgiving...

From Sarah Caron

"I wish I could capture the images, voices and conversations from my childhood and transfer them to a memory holder, like Dumbledore’s pensieve, so that I could revisit them in full clarity whenever I choose. I’d like to hold tight to the laughter, smiles and joy of the family of my childhood together.

We would gather in the kitchen on the eve of Thanksgiving, three generations of women in the family standing around the smooth stretch of tan-speckled Formica countertop that we ate dinner at nightly. But this wasn’t dinner time. It was time to prepare for Thanksgiving.
We’d gather cans of tender peaches and pears, and bunches of tart green grapes. A glass bowl, with smooth sides and curved edges would await the salad. The grapes would be halved. Then, we would carefully dig into each one, removing the tiny seeds. Then the grapes would be dropped into the bowl, with pears, peaches and fiery flashes of maraschino cherries. Someone older than I – my grandmother, perhaps – would stir the mixture with a large wooden spoon, making rhythmic circle motions around the perimeter. Then aluminum foil would seal the top, patted and crinkled to fit the lip of the bowl. Into the refrigerator overnight the fruit salad would go. At the last minute before serving, sliced bananas being tossed in to prevent them from browning.

To serve, the fruit salad would be spooned into diminutive footed glass bowls, one at each placesetting. Cups filled with cocktail sauce and rimmed with pink curves of jumbo shrimp would join the table. A relish platter, vegetables, turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes and more. And cranberry sauce, sometimes made fresh, other times poured from the white can.
Then would come dessert, glorious dessert. Two or three pies would wait, apple, pumpkin, sometimes pecan or cherry. But I only had eyes for the pumpkin.
Thanksgiving was a day for simple indulgence, for giving thanks for the gifts we had – family, love, intelligence. The table would overflow with food prepared with but one objective: feeding a family. They say that preparing food with love makes it taste so much better. Whoever ‘they’ is, they are right.

These days, some of the faces gathering around the table are different. There is a new generation of family present and an older one passed. I’ve taken over the task of cooking Thanksgiving, making the meal more elaborate and extensive. It’s my style. Whereas my grandmother appreciated simplicity and clean, fuss-free tastes, I relish in creating new side dishes and appetizers that expand my family’s palates. Desserts still include pumpkin and apple pies, but now it’s my special French apple pie awaiting the overstuffed bellies. But the feeling and meaning are still the same.

Whatever it is that hits the table, I hope that 25 years from now, my children will look back on the Thanksgivings of their childhood and remember the three generations of family members crowding around our kitchen table, eating food that they helped prepare. It doesn’t matter the style or variety, just as long as they are a part of it, just like I was."

French Apple Pie
yields one pie

1 good quality deep dish pie crust (I like Oronoque Farms)
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
dash of salt
8 cups peeled and sliced apples (about 1/4 inch thick)
1/2 tbsp vanilla

Crumb topping:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup firm butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in apples.
Pour apple combination into the pie crust, making them slightly higher in the center than on the sides. Sprinkle vanilla over the top of the pie.
Place pie in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour and brown sugar for the crumb topping. Cut in the butter and mix until crumbly.
Remove pie from the oven and sprinkle crumb topping over the apples. Place pie back in the oven and cook for an additional 30-35 minutes.
Let cool on a wire rack. Serve warm…with vanilla bean ice cream.

(all photographs for this post courtesy sarah caron)

when you were a child did you help out in the kitchen preparing thanksgiving dinner? or other holiday meals? please share your stories in the comments section of this post...

and as i close, i am reminded that thanksgiving day is exactly one week from today.....yikes...off to plan the shopping lists....happy thanksgiving everyone!

best,

diane

napa farmhouse 1885™

"live a green life of style"™

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