Have you got your tickets to my upcoming “Plant-Based Every Day” cooking seminar yet? It’s next weekend, 1^st/2^nd of April 1-230pm at the Go Green Expo here in Auckland. I’ll be showing you how to make three delicious new plant-based recipes – a gorgeous Sunshine Turmeric Latte (recipe, and video! coming next week), this flavoursome Garden Green Hummus, and… this delightful Cherry Ripe Brownie I’m sharing with you today. All three recipes can be made easily at home in under 15 minutes, with no more than a simple food processor or blender. Early Bird ticket pricing is ending this weekend (midnight Sunday), so if you’re keen to come along make sure you grab your tickets here!

Meanwhile, if you’re out of Auckland, then I can’t have you missing out now, can I! So here you go, my delicious Cherry Ripe Brownie recipe, so you can be part of the goodness too. If you loved Cherry Ripe bars as a kid, you’ll love this easy one step reinterpretation, without the refined sugar, dairy, or processed fillers. Plus, there’s a secret ingredient in there to make it all creamy and fudgey (think vegetable – almost!). The result is a tempting mix of sweet and sour cherries, tropical coconut, all bound together in a rich and moist chocolatey brownie.

Yes this cheeky childhood throwback of a Cherry Ripe Brownie is…

• A simple blend and press job
• No cooking required
• Packed with antioxidants, magnesium, iron, calcium, selenium, vitamin C, and heart healthy monounsaturated fats to maximise vitamin absorption,
• The perfect sweet treat to keep in the freezer, and
• Sure to satisfy all your Cherry Ripe memories, without the sugar hangover

I’m super excited to show you how to make it at my seminar next weekend, so if you’d like to come along make sure you get your tickets here! Otherwise read on below, and enjoy the brownie goodness…

How to choose your choc – raw, organic, fairly traded
If you’ve been following my blog for a while now, you’ll know I love chocolate. As well as numerous chocolate themed recipes (which you can find in my recipe index here), I dedicated a whole post to the Top 5 Benefits of this lovely bean here. To recap, dark chocolate (I’m talking the raw, organic, fairly traded variety, unadulterated by refined sugars and dairy milk) is an absolute gold mine of nutrients. 40 times the antioxidants of blueberries, the highest source of plant-based iron known to man, full of magnesium for a healthy heart and brain, more calcium than cow’s milk, and a natural mood elevator and anti-depressant.

I’ve used this deliciously smooth raw organic cacao powder from BioBalance, which ticks all our raw/organic/fairly traded boxes above. By choosing cacao powder that’s raw, it means we retain all the valuable antioxidants and heat-sensitive vitamins. Most cocoa powders you find in supermarkets still taste ok, but they’ve been heat treated at high levels meaning most of these valuable nutrients have been lost.

Organic meanwhile ensures that the cacao beans are naturally grown without chemical pesticides and fertilisers. These harmful chemicals once ingested are then absorbed into our tissues, and our poor bods have to work overtime in an attempt to detoxify and eliminate them via the liver. This puts excess pressure on this vital organ, meaning it has less time to clear out natural toxins produced by our body and repair and restore tissues.

Finally, fairly traded means that the cacao beans (grown in the Dominican Republic in BioBalance’s case are grown by farmers who are paid a fair wage for their work – enough to feed, clothe and house their families. One of the benefits of choosing products which have been certified as organic (and have an official logo on the packaging such as Asure Quality or BioGro in NZ), is that these certifications incorporate fair trade practices within them. In order to achieve organic certification therefore, these products need to meet certain criteria in terms of paying fair wages to their growers. Now that’s a tasty outcome all round.

Back to our brownie, let me just say it’s delicious. Cherry, coconut, chocolate, all bound together with the natural sweetness of iron-rich dates, the creaminess of selenium-rich brazil nuts, and the unsaturated-fatty-goodness of avocado. The sneaky avocado gives it a lovely fudgey texture too (you won’t know it’s there I promise).

If you make this fabulous Cherry Ripe Brownie, I would love to hear from you! Take a photo and tag me over on Instagram (use @begoodorganics and #beoodorganics in the main caption and @begoodorganics in the image, so I don’t miss you from my feed), share your photo on my Facebook page here, or leave me a comment below.

Hope you’ve got something fab planned this weekend. Summer has re-reared its beautiful head in NZ, for a while I thought we were heads down diving into Autumn, but it looks like a few more beach trips yet! We’re heading off in an hour (actually no, 20 minutes!) up north to Matakana (stunning spot if you haven’t been). One of my best friends from school is getting married this afternoon, so I can’t wait to celebrate, have a boogie, and chow down on some tasty eats with her and her new man.

Have a wonderful weekend my friend, wishing you lots of happy vibes, and til next week, stay happy and well.

PS If you like this recipe, pin it on Pinterest, share it on Facebook or Twitter, or recreate it on Instagram – I love seeing what you’re up to. And if you’re not already subscribed to my weekly recipe emails, be sure to do that here. Don’t miss my next video either by subscribing to my YouTube channel here.

Please note – if you are wanting to meet any of the specific dietary requirements below, please read my recipe notes.

V GF NF SF

Cherry Ripe Brownie

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AuthorBuffy Ellen Gill

Servings 16 slices

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

To set 1 hour hr

Ingredients

• 2 c dates
• 1 1/2 c brazil nuts
• 1 1/2 c freeze dried cherries
• 1 c desiccated coconut
• 1 avocado
• 3/4 c cacao powder
• 3 tbsp coconut sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Optional:

• 3 tbsp coconut sugar
• 4 tbsp cacao butter melted

To top:

• 1/4 c freeze dried cherries
• 1 tbsp desiccated coconut

Instructions

• Blend brazil nuts and dates in a food processor until you achieve a chunky couscous like texture, then add coconut, cacao powder and salt and blend again until combined.
• Add avocado and vanilla, and blend on low until fully combined but still retaining some crunchy chunky texture from the nuts.
• Finally, add the freeze dried cherries and pulse gently to mix through until they are slightly crushed but still visible.
• Press the mix into a lined tray, then sprinkle with the additional cherries and desiccated coconut, pressing lightly so they set in. Place in the freezer for one hour to set, then slice and serve.

Recipe Notes

• Keep this slice in the freezer for a firm cold chewy texture (my favourite). It will also store happily in the fridge for over week, for a softer fudgier option.
• If you’re planning to take the slice out and about (in lunches etc), you can also add 4 tablespoons of melted cacao butter in the avocado step, which helps to keep it solid and also gives it a delicious rich chocolatey flavour.
• I’ve added some coconut sugar to this brownie, to give it just a hint of sweetness. Without, however, the brownie still tastes lovely, but is only very modestly sweet (great for kids). If I’m making this for Mila I do the date only version, if its for Tony and I, I’ll add the extra coconut sugar (and often the melted cacao butter too) – pure decadence.
• Nut-free: To make a nut free version of this, replace the brazil nuts with watermelon seeds (you can order them from our online store here). Alternatively sunflower seeds also work well (you can order those here).

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