thursday recipe: emily rose brott's chocolate pecan brownies

We're moving house this week.

I'm surrounded by brown cardboard boxes, a few filled, many empty waiting for the contents of our cupboards and shelves to be placed inside sealed with tape and transported to...our new home!

Our new home that we've waited almost ten years for.

When River was six weeks old we moved to our current little beach shack which is in a fantastic location between the ocean and the bay.

We've had what I think is possibly the cheapest rent in Australia while we've been here - believe me the antiquated kitchen and bathroom haven't deserved a dollar more - but the location is the drawcard.

It has been the perfect little nest to raise our babies into boys, and the easy to handle rent has given us freedom, freedom to travel each winter to remote communities for Peter's work and freedom to save.

For the past three months Pete has treated getting our new house ready like a job leaving home early each morning to go 'on site' and work through a long list of plastering, painting, laying new floors, designing and creating new bathrooms and kitchen and and and the list goes on. We've been blessed to have the help of my uncle with this work and a great young carpenter who has enjoyed honing his craft on Pete's creative design ideas.

I'm looking forward to showing you some photos soon!

But for now there's brownies. I thought you'd be ok with that. Personally I don't see what the fuss is about brownies I'd rather eat chocolate but I know a lot of people love them. My sons and husband included!

Thanks to mum of four and cookbook author Emily Rose Brott for sharing her brownie recipe here today. This recipe comes from Emily's most recent book My Secret Ingredient. If you don't eat wheat flour you can use spelt or your favorite gluten free option. I also don't use rice bran oil so I'd use almond oil or butter.

You can read more about Emily and get her recipe for apple, oat, cranberry and chocolate muffins here.

Ok I'm off to make school lunches and then pack some more boxes.

Enjoy the recipe x

Emily Rose Brott's Chocolate and Pecan Brownies

Ingredients

3 eggs

2/3 cup (165ml) rice bran oil

120g 70% dark chocolate

2/3 cup (190g) honey

¾ cup (120g) wholemeal (whole-wheat) plain (all-purpose) flour

¼ cup (25g) almond meal (ground almonds)

¼ cup (60ml) milk

½ cup (55g) chopped toasted pecans (refer to cooking tips)

To make
Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F) fan-forced.

Beat eggs and oil together. Melt chocolate, and mix honey into the chocolate until dissolved. Add chocolate mixture to egg mixture, and beat.

Mix in flour, almond meal and milk until combined.

Stir in toasted chopped pecans.

Grease a brownie tin (28cm × 18cm) with oil, and line base with baking paper. 

Pour mixture into tin, spreading it evenly, and bake for 25 minutes.

Leave to cool in tin for 20 minutes before removing and leaving to cool further on a cake rack. 

Slice and serve.

Makes 15

Cooking tip: As an alternative to pecans you can use toasted walnuts or macadamia nuts.

Jude Blereau "Wholefood Baking"

Last Friday I drove up to Melbourne to the Essential Ingredient where I met up with my great long-time friend Kylie and we took our places at the tables set with china and roses for the launch of Jude Blereau's fourth book "Wholefood Baking". I have long been a fan of Jude's books and her enthusiastic, unfussy approach to wholefood cooking.

I own all of Jude's books, "Wholefood for Children" and "Coming Home to Eat" are the two most relevant to my life at this time with two young children. I've written before about a very delicious AND nutritious chocolate chip biscuit recipe from "Coming Home to Eat".

Jude's fourth book is brimming with recipes that bring sweetness to life and does so in a wholesome way because of the attention Jude has paid to writing beautiful recipes using wholefood ingredients. I will write a more detailed review of the book down the track when I have baked and baked and baked some more but for now I just wanted to share some photos of the day with you.

Going to the event was a treat because it is rare that Kylie and I get to spend an afternoon together drinking tea, eating cake and catching up without our children. Made even more special due to the fact Kylie is 8 months pregnant. Excited about the new babe!

Meeting people who I have long admired through their books or online is always a good thing. So it was great to finally meet Jude in real life and the bonus prize was meeting Meg, Meg who blogs at My Wholefood Romance who I think by the way should change her blog to "I'll have what she's having" because Meg is one of the most glowing, radiating with health people I have met!
Must be all that kale :) I'll definitely have what she's having! Now on with some photos...