During the spring of my junior year of high school, a good friend of mine invited me to her birthday party. Because we had met multiple years earlier at a backpacking summer camp and she actually lived three towns away, I knew none of her other friends, but I still replied with an emphatic yes.
Unlike most teenage birthday parties, my friend invited everyone over for a four-course dinner party at her house, which she cooked entirely by herself. I loved the concept, so I offered to come over a couple of hours early to help her with some of the food prep (and dishes!).
Just before everyone arrived in the late afternoon, my friend set out a few trays of bite-sized appetizers on the coffee table in her living room, and she introduced me to her school friends as they knocked on the door and nibbled on the delicious homemade food. Not too long after, she invited us to sit at the long dining table, and her mom helped her bring in each course.
We started with warm homemade bread rolls and fresh seasonal greens salads, then moved on to tortellini served alongside grilled asparagus and cherry tomatoes. To end the meal, instead of a cake, my friend had baked decadent fudgy chocolate brownies topped with luscious chocolate mousse and dark chocolate covered espresso beans.
Although many people at the dinner table felt incredibly stuffed by the time dessert rolled around, I had saved lots of room. Dessert is my favorite part of any meal, especially when that much chocolate is involved!
When I overheard a couple chatting about what drinks to bring to a dinner party while grocery shopping last week, I smiled as the memories of my friend’s birthday party floated through my mind. And of course, I ended up craving brownies…
So I baked these Healthy Fudgy Dark Chocolate Brownies with Peanut Butter Frosting! They’re supremely decadent, absolutely bursting with rich chocolate flavor, and they basically have the same luxurious texture as squares of fudge. Paired with the creamy peanut butter frosting on top (and dark chocolate covered espresso beans, as a nod to my friend’s birthday dessert!), they taste just as indulgent as any traditional brownies made with lots of butter and heavy cream…
Yet these contain no heavy cream whatsoever, and no refined flour or sugar either, along with just 88 calories! That’s true brownie bliss in my book!
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