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Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3.5 (ZReboot 3.5) recipe. One of the most decadent offerings of Plan Z. This bar tastes more like a deep chocolate cake than a brownie. It will satisfy your craving for chocolate for sure. Serve this after a simple weeknight meal or even at the fanciest party. A 2” square is all you’ll need to feel spoiled. You’ll never believe this is healthy diet food. I promise.

Serves: Serves 9 – 2” bars

Ingredients:

For the bars

• ¼ cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 ounces of high quality bittersweet chocolate that has 70% – 72% cacao content, chopped fine
• 1/3 cup of very hot water
• ¼ cup of kefir (goat milk) or buttermilk if you can’t find kefir
• 6 tsp of Truvia
• ¼ cup of coconut oil (you can heat this slightly to get it to be clear oil)
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp of organic vanilla
• 1/3 cup super fine ground almond meal (almond flour)
• 1/3 cup regular white flour
• 1 Tbl of corn starch
• ½ tsp of xanthan gum (You find this in the health food section. It’s good for low carb baking.)
• ½ tsp of baking soda
• ¼ tsp of sea salt

For the frosting

• 3 oz of high quality bitter chocolate that has 70% – 72% cacao content, chopped fine
• 3 oz of whipping cream

Instructions:

In a small heatproof bowl put the cocoa powder, chocolate and water. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Add the kefir and stir again.  Set aside to begin to cool.

In a large bowl, add the egg, the Truvia and the coconut oil with the vanilla.  Beat until smooth.  If your coconut oil is hardened you might have to whip a bit longer to get it to blend in or heat it in advance – slightly – to get it to become clear liquid,

Add the chocolate mixture and blend again.

Now add the dry ingredients. Turn on mixer and blend. Leave mixer running one full minute. Make sure you have scraped down the sides to incorporate all ingredients. Do final blending.

Pour batter into a 9” square or 9” round pan that has been sprayed with baking spray (alternatively lightly butter the pan and sprinkle in a bit of flour to dust the pan). The ideal would be to use a pan with removable bottom but if not you’ll just serve your bars from the pan rather than taking it out to display on a cake plate.

Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes. The batter will not rise much. It will be about 1/2 “ thick. Might be a bit lumpy too. This will die down. Test for doneness with a toothpick. If the pick comes out clean the bars are done.

Let cool in the pan on the counter. Either remove the baked result to a platter to frost it or frost in the pan.

To make the frosting:

Heat the cream in a small sauce pan on medium high just until bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Do not bring to a full boil. When the bubbles appear, take the pan off of the heat and add the chocolate pieces. Stir until smooth and creamy. Spread on the cooled bars.

Serve plain or with Sweetened Creme Fraiche Dessert Sauce. Can also serve with whipped cream and/or berries.

These bars are approximately 150 calories each and contain approximately 8 grams of carbohydrate per bar without the sauce, whipped cream or berries.

If you want flavored frosting you can add things like peppermint flavoring or orange or even raspberry. Just a tsp will do it. Chocolate mint for the holidays. BIG YUM.

Enjoy!

Cheers,