Gooey Chocolate Chip Brownie Bars

By vealam

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup peanut butter OR allergy-friendly alternative
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp flour (almond flour, white, spelt, sorghum, oat, and Bob’s gf all work here)
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 2/3 cup sugar or xylitol
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (mini are best, but regular will also work)
• optional chocolate chips for the top

Details

Servings 12
Cooking time 40mins
Adapted from chocolatecoveredkatie.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 F and grease an 8x8 pan. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the first 3 ingredients until smooth. Add all remaining ingredients, and stir. Only if it’s too dry after stirring to resemble a thick brownie batter, very slowly add a little milk of choice (or water) until the desired texture is reached. Smooth evenly into the prepared pan, then press in some extra chocolate chips if desired. Bake 20 minutes, then remove from the oven. It will look a little undercooked, so do not touch the pan for at least 15 minutes. After this time, it will have firmed up and you can cut without crumbling. After a day, leftovers should be stored in the fridge for freshness.