Cocoa-Nut Brownies

This recipe comes from my The Joy of Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Baking cookbook.  These brownies were made using alternative flours such as pecan and almond flours.  The recipe also requires the use of Stevia or Splenda. I always choose the more natural one, so Stevia in this case.  If you're on a diet and still want to eat yummy snack food, you should probably pick up this cookbook.  Every single recipe calls for a type of nut flour, which you can find at your local health food store, however if you are allergic to nuts, this book isn't for you then.

Here's what you'll need:
2 cups (8 oz.) pecan flour
1 cup (4 oz.) almond flour
2 cups Splenda or Stevia Extract in the Raw, or 1/2 cup New Roots Stevia Sugar
1/2 cup (1.5 oz.) unsweetened natural cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened chocolate soy milk or chocolate almond milk
1/4 cup salted butter or margarine, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon liquid stevia

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line the bottom of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, then mist the pan with spray oil.

In a medium bowl, combine the pecan flour, almond flour, stevia, cocoa powder, and baking powder and whisk until well mixed.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, soy milk, butter, vanilla, and liquid stevia together until thoroughly blended.

Add the flour mixture and whisk or stir with a large spoon until all of the ingredients are evenly incorporated to make a smooth, sticky batter.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, spreading it in an even layer if need be.

Bake for 15 minutes, then rotate and bake for 10 minutes, until the brownies are just slightly springy but still jiggly when pressed gently in the center.  If you like fudgy brownies, remove them from the oven at this point.  If you prefer them to be more cakelike, continue baking for a few more minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the brownies comes out clean.

Let the brownies cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes.  Cut them in a 3 by 4 grid, to yield 12 brownies.

Enjoy!