I’ve been promising this for a while, but first there was a bit of experimenting to get the recipe right and then, just when I had it perfected, I went off on holidays and had no time to post it. It’s a healthied-up version of the traditional chocolate brownie, so not actually deadly to the waistline…as long as you don’t eat the entire batch in one go, that is. Try to resist, OK?

These are even better served warm!

STOP THE PRESSES! I’ve made this even better! Here’s the update.

Makes 16 serves

1/2 cup wholemeal, buckwheat or rice flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup roughly chopped fresh dates
3 tbs almond butter or natural peanut butter
2 egg whites plus 1 whole egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 tbs agave syrup (you could use maple syrup or honey if you prefer)
100g 85% dark chocolate, chopped
About 1/2 cup of roughly chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 180C. Sift flour, cocoa, baking power and salt into a large bowl. Add half the chopped chocolate and the walnuts and mix well. Smoosh the dates and almond butter in a food processor until smooth. Add the egg, egg whites, vanilla, syrup and apple sauce and process until they’re well mixed. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the date mixture. Stir until combined. Line a non-stick lamington pan with baking paper and pour in the mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until cooked through, then allow to cool. Melt the remaining chocolate and drizzle over the top, then leave to set before cutting into 16 pieces.

This has roughly the following nutritional content per serve:

Calories 126
Fat 8.4g
Protein 3.9g
Carbohydrate 7g
Sodium 22mg