From Lauren: Today, Becky from A Calculated Whisk is sharing this gorgeous Paleo Pumpkin Brownie recipe. I asked her to guest post here, so you can have her site as a resource. Becky is a skilled food photographer who shares grain-free, foodie-friendly, creative recipes. She’s also written a cookbook featuring international paleo-ified recipes called Paleo Planet. A couple nights ago, I made her Balsamic Slow Cooker Short Ribs with Parsnip Puree… divine!
Hello! I’m Becky from A Calculated Whisk, and I’m thrilled to be guest posting for Lauren today. I specialize in developing creative paleo and gluten-free recipes, including plenty of international fare and indulgent desserts. I hope you enjoy these pumpkin swirl brownies!
When fall hits, everything starts sounding more appealing to me if there’s pumpkin involved in some way. Brownies are no exception! Pumpkin and chocolate may sound like a strange combination, but to me the sweetly spiced pumpkin is the perfect counterpart to the slight bitterness of chocolate. These brownies also have a Halloween color scheme, so they’re perfect to bring with you to any spooky events that may be coming up.
About the Ingredients: Paleo Pumpkin Brownies
The swirl for pumpkin swirl brownies is usually made with a mixture of pumpkin and cream cheese, but for these paleo brownies a little tahini makes the pumpkin swirl nice and creamy. Once the brownies are baked, you can’t taste the tahini at all. Maple syrup is used to sweeten the swirl, which adds an extra boost of fall flavor.
These pumpkin swirl brownies are made with tigernut flour (available here) which is one of my favorite paleo flours for baking. Tiger nuts are actually tubers and not nuts at all, so these brownies are perfect for those avoiding nuts. The flour is dense and finely ground, which means you don’t need much of it to whip up a batch of brownies. A few tablespoons of tapioca flour (or you can use arrowroot flour) add a bit of lightness to the batter.
If you like extra fudgy brownies, these are for you! They’re chewy and super chocolaty, with just a touch of creamy pumpkin spice flavor in each bite. If, unlike me, you’re not interested in adding pumpkin to all the things, you can definitely make these brownies without the pumpkin swirl. Just add some chocolate chips or cacao nibs on top for texture!
- For the brownie base
- ½ cup melted ghee or coconut oil (get a free jar of ghee from Thrive here)
- ¾ cup honey or maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ⅔ cup cacao or unsweetened cocoa powder, available here
- 3 tablespoons tapioca flour or arrowroot flour, available here
- ½ cup tiger nut flour, available here
- For the pumpkin swirl
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons tahini, available here
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- Pinch of allspice
- Pinch of cloves
- Pinch of nutmeg
- Pinch of salt
- 1 large egg
- Preheat the oven to 350 and line an 8x8-inch or similar pan (the one pictured is 10.5x7) with parchment paper.
- To make the brownie batter, beat the eggs, ghee, and vanilla with a whisk in a large bowl. Whisk in the eggs one at a time, and then add the remaining ingredients, whisking after each addition. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula.
- To make the pumpkin tahini swirl, mix all ingredients with a fork in a small bowl until smooth.
- Spoon the pumpkin mixture onto the brownie batter in three evenly spaced rows, then use a butter knife to create swirls (drag the knife across the batter perpendicular to the stripes).
- Bake for 35-40 minutes, or just until the top of the brownies is dry to the touch. Cool completely before slicing and serving.
- Store leftover brownies in the refrigerator for up to five days. They’re delicious chilled or at room temperature.
Becky is a food photographer, recipe developer, and cookbook author who shares creative paleo and gluten-free recipes on her blog, A Calculated Whisk. Her first cookbook, Paleo Planet, includes internationally inspired paleo meals, desserts, sauces, spice blends, and more. Becky enjoys searing short ribs, chopping chocolate, photographing citrus fruit, and salting desserts. She lives in Chattanooga with her fiancé and his cat. You can connect with Becky on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter.
Looks great! Is there a substitute for tahini? I don’t use it often and wondering if there is another option that would produce the same result without me buying a whole new container of something. 🙂
Hi Meredith! I think almond butter would work, too. Let me know if you try it!
I just made these with a chunky almond butter and it was delish! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe!
So glad you enjoyed them, Nicole! Glad to know they work with that substitution.
I just made these this weekend they are awesome I did not use tahini i put in almond butter instead and used almond flour instead of tiger nut flour i cant find it.
Tiger it is lovely but super expensive & not easy to find locally. How about substituting oat/& or coconut instead? Looks & sounds delicious! Thank-you!
Hi Rowan! You’re welcome to play around with that, but I can’t attest to the results since I haven’t tried it myself. I actually have a coconut allergy so I don’t bake with coconut flour, but I do know it absorbs a lot of liquid so you might need to adjust other ingredients as well. If it’s any cheaper or easier to find, I think your best bet for a sub here would be cassava flour.
i used almond flour worked great nice and moist same measurment
I’m in Byron bay Australia ….I haven’t found tigernut flour in any of the health stores so I tried buying on Amazon but it says they cant ship to my address here ?
That’s too bad! You could try seeing if any individual brands ship there–take a look at Tiger Nuts USA and Organic Gemini. It was hard for me to figure out if they do ship to Australia without a specific address to put in.
Hi,
Is there a way to make this Egg free? I’m allergic to eggs and can’t use flax/chia seeds. Thank you
Hi Diana! I haven’t tried this without eggs. However, if you have a formula for using an egg substitute that normally works in similar baked goods, I’d say it’s worth a try. What do you normally use since you’re avoiding flax and chia?
I use gelatin eggs in another brownie recipe and feel pretty sure it would work for Diana in this one as well. Usually 1TBS gelatin/egg with 4 TBS water. Sprinkle gelatin on top of water and let sit for 5 minutes. Turn on low heat and wisk until dissolved, keep wisking until frothy. Add to mixture and proceed according to directions. I hope that helps.
Do you have the nutrition information for these? Thanks so much!
Nicole, I don’t calculate nutrition info and I don’t think Lauren does either, but there are lots of free calculators online where you can plug in the ingredients and get the details. Here’s one: https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp
These are delicious! Perfectly fudgy and the pumpkin on top is great. Since I used an 8×8, the pumpkin ‘swirl’ ended up just being a complete layer on top, which still worked out great. Now lets hope I dont eat the whole pan today and tomorrow!
So glad you liked them, Jenn!