Date Sweetened Gluten Free Brownies

These are amazing, trust me they are, purely fruit sweetened, naturally gluten free and very easy to make ( well as long as you have a decent food processor). I first spotted this recipe when it was shared by Jamie Oliver on Facebook, intrigued I popped over to the website only to find that the recipe originated from Elana Amsterdam  of Elana's pantry, one of my favorite American bloggers.
                   
In the last couple of weeks since discovering this recipe I must have made them at least half a dozen times, whipped up in about 45 minutes start to finish they are great and make a fabulous addition to any lunch box. I have now taken to bulk buying dates so I always have the ingredients in so I can whip up a batch if the mood so takes me, the recipe is rich in fibre, antioxidants and low in fat too.
I also a little bit addicted to using coconut oil in baking and this recipe being paleo in origin uses this ingredient too, you can't taste it but it seems to make your bakes more bouncy, its pricy but well worth the investment. Also please ensure you use a good quality dark chocolate so that you get the best antioxidant boost possible from your bake.

What you need

• 200g Dark chocolate (a good % of cocoa solids), broken up into squares
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 200g dates (whole stoned or chopped)
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup coconut oil - melted
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

A square cake tin, lined approximately 8" by 8"
What you do 

• Pre heat the oven to 180c
• Blitz the chocolate and bicarbonate of soda in your food processor until its the texture of coarse sand
• Next add the dates and continue to blitz until you are back to the coarse sand texture
• Add the eggs, coconut oil and vanilla to the procesor and pulse until incorporated
• Tip into your preprepared tin and smooth level in the tin
• Bake for 30 -35 minutes until risen and cooked through
• Cool initially in the tin and then on a wire rack
• Store in an airtight tin