Look at me getting all sorts of philosophical here. But it’s true and this recipe is a perfect example. It is essentially a riff on Maria Emmerich’s Flourless Chocolate Torte, which she kindly allowed me to post a few weeks ago. I got thinking about how I wanted to add peanut butter to this torte, because I want to add peanut butter to pretty much everything. It’s a sickness, really. And then it somehow occurred to me that the basic torte batter would make a great brownie too. And suddenly I could see in my mind’s eye a perfect, dark dense brownie with swirls of peanut butter throughout. I knew it would be a match made in heaven.
Sometimes, however, reality doesn’t quite go as smoothly as the image in my head. I find that the ingredients didn’t quite combine the way I thought they would and I have to improvise. But the same can be said for language and writing. When sitting down to write, I have a basic structure in my head but sometimes as I go along, I find it’s not quite coming together the way I thought and I need to change tack. Again this recipe is a perfect example. When I’d mixed in my eggs, I found all of my oil rising to the surface of my batter and it wasn’t combining properly. I knew I needed something to bring it together, so I threw in a little almond flour and bingo. The oil reabsorbed and away we went. And when I first started writing this post, I had a different idea altogether. I’d written half of it when I hit upon the idea that food was like language, the way they both combine in infinitely unique ways. Suddenly I found myself writing a whole new post.
Food and language. Language and food. I love them both. I love the way I can play with them and rework them and reinvent them constantly. And I love the way they can both suddenly challenge me in the middle and force me to rethink my approach. A never-ending adventure.
Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies – Low Carb and Gluten-Free
Ingredients
- 14 tbsp 1 3/4 sticks butter or coconut oil
- 7 oz sugar free very dark chocolate (85 to 90% cacao)
- 2/3 cups Swerve Sweetener, or granulated erythritol
- 5 large eggs
- 1/3 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F and grease an 8x8 inch baking pan.
- In a large saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and chocolate together until smooth.
- Add the Swerve Sweetener and stir until well combined.
- Let cool 10 minutes.
- Whisk in the eggs one at a time.
- Stir in the almond flour until batter is smooth.
- Spread batter in prepared baking pan. Drop peanut butter in spoonfuls over the surface of the batter and use a knife to swirl in and create a marbled effect.
- Bake 18 to 22 minutes, or until surface of brownies is just barely firm to the touch.
- Remove and let cool, then cut into squares.
Notes
Nutrition
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You’re getting all intellectual on me 🙂 It’s awesome! And you’re totally right…with cooking you can constantly find brilliant dishes from the same staple ingredients.
Like peanut butter. Which makes EVERYTHING better!
I made these today with peanut flour instead of almond, and they were fantastic. I topped with a homemade sugar free ganache. They are so good, I had to put them in the freezer to stop me from eating the whole thing. Thank you.
When I was taking photographs, I kept sneaking bits of brownie from the pan. It was hard to resist!
OMG yummy looking!!!!!!!!!!!!
Food is a way to show people how I am feeling. Writing about it keeps things interesting. These brownies look fantastic!
Thankd for the shout out!
These look fantastic Carolyn. Peanut butter and chocolate are the ultimate pair.
When my Whole 30 is over I am SO making these!!!!!
A question about Swerve. I bought 2 bags of it a couple of months ago, and baked an almond cake the other day and used Swerve instead of Erythritol. The Swerve in the already-opened bag was hard as a rock, even though it had been carefully resealed. So I checked on the unopened bag and it was also hard as a rock even though it has a factory seal. In order to use either of them I will have to run it through a blender or similar to repulverize it. And I may have to do it every time I want to use it. Is this typical?
Hi Marcia, I’ve had a similar problem, actually, but I find that I can easily chip some off and measure it out, and then break it up more in a bowl. And unlike sugar, it doesn’t stay in rock hard bits when I mix it with other ingredients. I have actually mentioned this to Swerve and they know of the issue already and are addressing it. They said it may have something to do with the packaging it’s in, and they are looking into changing that. They are VERY responsive to issues with the product, which is great.
One thing I keep meaning to try, but haven’t yet, is putting a piece of apple peel in, like you do for brown sugar. There are some other tricks as well, but I haven’t had a chance yet. I will let you know if they work!
Hi Carolyn, just found your site today and can’t wait to try out your recipes. I’ve been recently diagnosed with diabetes so need to change my eating habits so am doing the research so I can stock up on everything I’m going to need. I’ve never tried sweeteners other than sugar so am wondering which you prefer overall? Erythritol or Swerve? I’ve also seen Xylitol but don’t know what the difference is between that and Erythritol and everyone says something different.
In addition, which brand chocolate do you recommend? I’d prefer sugar-free but am clueless as to which brands are good. Thank you!
I often use Lindt but it’s not officially gluten-free. I think Dagoba is, though.
Swerve is erythritol…with some oligosaccharides. It’s what I use.
Hi Carolyn,
I’m very excited about this recipe and have them in the oven now. I am concerned, however, about the carb count. If this recipe makes 16 brownies as indicated there will be over 17 grams of carbs per brownie. There are a lot of carbs in Swerve (5 grams per Teaspoon) and since the recipe calls for 3/4 cup Swerve that means 36 grams of carbs are going into the batter in Swerve alone.
I’m on a Keto diet so I’ll just cut them into half size bites so each serving has less than 10 grams. Can’t wait to try them. Thanks for the recipe!!
Swerve has non-effective carbs, meaning they do not ever enter the bloodstream and thus do not raise the blood sugar. They are excreted whole into the urine, this is why, as I have stated in several places on my blog, I don’t count them in the carb count. I have the advantage of testing my blood sugar on a regular basis and I can tell you that it truly does not raise my glucose levels at all. You should read up on erythritol.
These look fabulous!
Peanut butter brownies are my favorite! These look great!
I love that you pointed out the similarities between language and food, endless possibilities! Some good, some bad haha. But these look great!
This sounds so yummy! I can’t wait to try this recipe.
Food is my way of showing love – what a simple brownie recipe. Can’t believe it’s low carb – fantastic job.
Ooh, peanut butter brownies are my favorite kind of brownies! These look so rich & just perfect… yum!
Food and language-yes, indeed! It is a never-ending adventure for me too. Love your GF brownie creation: decadent and lovely:)xx
Carolyn, food is my LOVE language! It’s my favorite way to show people I care about them. 🙂
I wonder how these would taste with almond butter instead of peanut butter? I think I might try it. 😉
oh these look too good Carolyn! I may just make these this weekend
I love the comparison… how right you are. Peanut butter and chocolate were meant to be together, and I’m so looking forward to trying out these brownies!
I bet these are amazing!