Brownie Breakfast Bites (Gluten Free)

You can make these rich, nutty, no bake, brownie breakfast bites in less time than it will take you to read this blog post. So if you’d like to skip the ramblings and get right to the chocolatey deets feel free to click the button above to jump straight to the recipe.

If you are a reader of food blogs (and I’m thinking based on current behavior that you are) then you are probably familiar with the highly scrutinized and often memed practiced of starting each blog post with a personal anecdote – bordering on memoir. Perhaps it takes you all the way back to the author’s childhood kitchen, where they stood waist-high at their grandmother’s side and learned all of the secrets to her special sauce. Or even just someone’s take on the latest food trend, or what “seasonal eating” means to them. Any way it comes, it’s always in preamble to the part everyone came for – the recipe.

Most blogs (in my experience) were born out of some passion – for cooking, sharing recipes, taking beautiful pictures, general narcissism, or telling stories. Mine, for instance, came about at a time when I was feeling creatively stagnant both in the kitchen and in life. It started as a way to flex that creative muscle – by sharing my thoughts about the things we ate each day. Eventually it blossomed into something bigger – a love for food photography, a community of readers, and an ever growing catalog of recipes. But at its heart it was always a way to express myself in some small way.

But despite my obvious bias I totally get the very vocal contingency of folks who HATE THE STORIES. They want the recipe and they want it now. I don’t blame them – life is busy and sometimes you just gotta get dinner on table. I also admittedly don’t always read the post before scrolling down to the recipe. It’s shameful I know, but that laundry isn’t going to fold itself.

So why do we food bloggers do this to you? Why not just give up the goods right away? It would mean less work for us, and easier access to recipes for you. Well the answer is more complicated than you might think. Firstly, there is the whole “it’s the internet and people can say whatever they want” argument. And as unsatisfying as that answer may be, it’s still the truth. Further to that, and more personally for me, it’s nice to document the memories, trials, tribulations, and little anecdotes of life.

Secondly, there can be a more practical purpose to a lengthy blog post. Sometimes it’s because those words might actually contain valuable information about the recipe. Context is king and when I know that the author baked a cake three times prior to hitting publish, I might be inclined to sift through the text for tips or tricks that will help me make the cake as good as it can be on my first try.

Another reason for all the mumbo jumbo before you get to that meaty recipe? Three little letters that spark fear (or possibly joy) in the hearts of any blogger – SEO. It stands for Site Engine Optimization and it’s basically all the things that Google looks for when deciding how to rank your page in search. I don’t pretend to be an expert on the topic, but the takeaway for you should be that there’s a list of items that every successful blog post must check off in its attempts to stand out from the other 4 million posts that are published each day.

So the next time you’re reading (or scrolling past) the words on the page, remember that they’re there for a reason. But if you still really hate the idea of anything but the actual recipe, take note of the magical Jump and Print buttons that appear at the top of most bloggers’ posts. They allow you to detour directly to what you want, with a simple click. And with that you have a ton of junk that has almost nothing to do with the brownie breakfast bites that I’m sharing today. But I hope you learned something anyway about why I do what I do.

What about those brownie breakfast bites though?

So glad you asked. Let’s keep this simple, as I think I’ve blathered on more than enough for one day. These little guys are rich, chocolatey, nutty, healthy, and dense enough that a couple along with your morning coffee should get you to lunch time no problemo. And although their name would imply that they’re only appropriate for breakfast, they are totally excellent for a little burst of energy any time of day. Think of them as little bites of energy, or perhaps – energy bites?

How do I make chocolate energy bites?

The best part of these is how easy they are to make. Pop some nuts in your food processor, blitz them until they’re finely chopped (but don’t go so far that you make nut butter), add the rest of the good stuff, and then roll them into bite sized little protein bites that you can eat straight away or chill for up to a week.

Can I make these energy bites in a blender?

The only bad news about these (other than how fast you’ll power through them) is that you really do need a food processor. A blender just won’t be able to handle the heft of the mixture, and doing this by hand seems like some sort of torture that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemies.

Substitutions for brownie breakfast bites

The important part about these is that they hold together without too much effort – also that they taste delicious. But substitutions can definitely be made. I tested these with a few different nuts and was always pleased with the outcome. The only reason the trifecta of pistachios, pecans, and almonds made the final cut is that I always have them on hand and the flavor profile was as close to a brownie as I could get without actually breaking down and buying a box of Duncan Hines. I also successfully made these using peanut butter instead of almond butter and maple syrup instead of honey. So really as long as the liquid to solid ratio stays about the same, the sky’s the limit.

Now that you’ve got all the knowledge, I hope you make these a regular part of your weekly routine. Because sometimes you don’t have time to read long blog posts or cook elaborate breakfasts. But this one’s a reminder to all you busy people out there to take just a moment and savor something delicious every once in a while.

Need more quick and healthy breakfast ideas?

• Lemon Yogurt Cheesecake Parfaits
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Energy Bites
• Raspberry Chocolate Quinoa Overnight Oats
• My Favorite Breakfast Sandwich – The BEC

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