This is what happens when two roommates are bored on a Monday night:
Brownie batter happens.
Just to be clear: Lentil stew also happened Monday night. We didn’t only eat brownie batter for dinner. Although that might have been fun…
By popular demand, what follows is a sugar-free version of my Dark Chocolate Brownie Dip.
Emily and I liked this version, but I haven’t actually tried it on any of my other friends yet. So if you’re planning to bring it to a party with people not used to healthy-tasting desserts, I’d stick with the original decadent dip, linked above. (Or taste-test the following version before serving it to others. Then again, I think you should always taste-test before bringing a dish to a party!)
No-Sugar Brownie Batter Dip
Inspired by the Sugar-Free Cookie Dough Dip
- 1 can garbanzo beans, drained (250g)
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- up to 2 tbsp milk of choice
- 1/4c nut butter of choice (or oil, if you don’t want any nutty flavor)
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- a little over 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 and 1/4 cup pitted dates (I used SunMaid, from a regular grocery store)
- optional: feel free to add flaxmeal or quick oats
In a bowl, cover the dates with 1/2 cup water. Let this sit for at least 8 hours. Then add all ingredients (including the dates’ soaking liquid) to a food processor and blend until very, very smooth. It tasted much better in a food processor than in a Vitamix, so use a blender at your own risk. To make this taste more like brownie batter from a boxed mix, use dutch-processed cocoa or Hersheys special dark. This dip can be served as a dessert dip, as a spread with fruit or crackers, eaten with a spoon, mixed into oatmeal, stuffed into cupcakes, or even used to top pancakes.
If you wish, you can add some Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips.
Link Of The Day:
I’m in! Just put garbanzo beans on my grocery list!
Mmm… this looks divine. I ordered a bunch of cans of garbanzo beans online a while back but I still haven’t used them yet. Might be about time to correct that!
Your answer to the above comment about bulk/food combining I find interesting. I know you need to take in a lot of calories to sustain yourself; do you find yourself eating beyond full just to meet that requirement? I know for me, especially as someone who is actually experiencing some reproductive issues due to inadequate energy intake coupled with vigorous exercise, I usually end up really packing it in at dinner =/ If I don’t, I’d have a hard time getting enough in in a day. And even doing that, a portion of my dinner usually becomes my pre-run snack the next morning!
Also I wanted to mention, in case one of your readers was having the same issues I was when doing vegan baking. If I didn’t use eggs or egg whites, the product was usually gooey and would collapse instead of rising. BUT, I figured out that if I add wheat gluten (a powder) to the dry ingredients, it turns out wonderful and cakey like I like =) I can only assume the necessary component is the protein, gluten being wheat protein and eggs being… uh.. egg protein. If anyone has further insight into this, I’m all ears!
Ooh that’s really smart, girl! I know my mom has a package of gluten at her house. I might have to experiment baking with it.
And yes, I do often have to eat when I’m not hungry. But I also try to eat a lot of calorie-dense foods so I don’t take up too much room in my stomach before I’m full! 🙂
Yum! No Stevia and still sugarfree: Your a genious!
I think I’ll throw in an banana, too 🙂
Hi Katie,
I was wondering, how do you go about eating these dips?? I mean are they for dipping things like fruit, putting on porridge?? I was just wondering really. You do seem to like your dips!! 🙂 🙂 .
Yeah, these things are real crowd-pleasers. Usually when I make them, it’s for a party, and I bring graham crackers or fruit. This dip can be served as a dessert dip, as a spread with fruit or crackers, eaten with a spoon, mixed into oatmeal, stuffed into cupcakes, or even used to top pancakes. It’s completely up to you :).
The banana worked really well! I melted it with a little brown sugar. I used an entire banana, but even though I’m not a sweets person – I still had to add about two tablespoons additional sugar to hide the ‘beaniness.’ I’m going to try black beans next time. 😉
I was going to ask about the black beans…I don’t have garbanzos on hand, but I do have black beans…I’m thinking about doing a little experiment 🙂
haha came come over next time for beer and brownies??
never too much brownies 😉
Yes, PLEASE do!!! Please please? I still so want to meet you :).
Hi Katie- can I make a reader’s request for a healthy tiramisu recipe? 🙂 just tried your fudge brownies. So. Good.
Yes, you definitely can! Actually, it’s been on my “to make” list for a while. I do need to get around to it someday soon!
I love any sort of batter, cookie dough, etc. You know what I like!! 🙂 Have a great day! 🙂
will this work without the beans or dates? or both?
Sorry, I don’t know.
I love how much you love chocolate. 🙂
OMG I just made this and did a little dance as I was taste-testing it from the food processor! This is the best thing ever – you cannot even taste the beans and the dates sweeten up the dip up amazingly!! I will definitely be using this in oatmeal and other places! Do you have the nutritionals for this by tablespoon? If not, no biggie, I am just curious. Thanks for this amazing recipe!! : )
Sorry, I don’t! I did post nutritional info for the pumpkin dip, but that’s the only one of the bean dip recipes I actually bothered to figure out.
I’m so glad you like it!!
Katie, what kind of pumpkin ale did you get? If you can still find it this late in the season, look for Southern Tier’s Pumking – it is by far the best pumpkin beer made.
I think it was Buffalo Bills lol. I will try to look for the one you mentioned!
I really want to make this tonight is there anyway I can soak the dates for less then 8 hours? I’m craving a desert that is sugar free and chocolate full!
xoxo,
Madeline
It depends on the dates you have… if they’re already soft (like Sunmaid), it should be ok to just do 3-4ish hours. But some dates are much tougher.
I had medjool dates and I only soaked them for around an hour and it still turned out amazing!! Thanks so much for the recipe!!
I have microwaved mine and that also softens them up quickly. =0)
Ok,i know i can get this info on google and so on,but i think it’s best to ask the “inventor” of these recipes.Can you please please tell me how much a cup is?I don’t mean exactly,maybe…compared to a water glass or tablespoons or anything. I’ve tried one of your recipes already and it turned out yumy althout i’m not sure it really turned as it should:))) I am really new at cooking and ever more at making it vegan…and thanks for posting great recipes!
Sorry, I’m not exactly sure what you mean… how much what? A cup is 16 tablespoons, if that’s what you mean :).
Don’t dates have fructose in them? Yes, it’s much healthier than a dessert with a big glob of refined sugar, but it’s not technically “sugar-free” if they do because fructose is a sugar. And it’s really not if you add a banana as at least one person suggested. That little nit-pick aside, you have some of the most amazingly creative, yummy-licious recipes here. I’m an unapologetic carnivore and ‘health-conscious’ is a phrase that isn’t used often in conjunction with my name, but, I do love chocolate (and foods with surprising ingredients) so I am actually looking forward to trying some of these out. If I like them, it can only be a win-win, right?
Hi Renae,
When I say “sugar-free” I mean free of the white stuff, or even agave, maple syrup, or other added sugar (as opposed to naturally-occuring sugars). Even things like vegetables and milk have naturally-occuring sugars ;). Sorry for the confusion!
This is fantastic! I used a combination of almond butter and coconut oil, and it was delicious!! I spread it on a big stack of almond flour pancakes today.. so decadent and nutritious to boot! 🙂