I NEED CHOCOLATE!!! Clean Chocolate Brownies with Chocolate Almond Frosting

We all know that you can still over eat when you're eating clean.  Although I acknowledge this entirely, I also realize that when we have a sweet craving, it's going to need to be satiated, with either something good, or something bad.  So let's discuss here, the something good.  I was inspired by an Instagram post by @drcharo that was a zucchini brownie with frosting, and man did it look delicious.  My versions didn't come out quite as thick as hers, as I chose to use maple syrup as a sweetener rather than a stevia or coconut sugar blend, but they were super delicious all the same.  I will admit here that I certainly licked the spoon more times than I should have, and this probably led to some extra calories I didn't need.  Hey!  At least it was all natural sugars!!!

INGREDIENTS:
Brownies:
- 1/2 cup Almond or Peanut Butter
- 1 whole Egg and 3 Egg Whites
- 1 tbsp. Baking Powder
- 1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 2 cups Shredded Zucchini
- 1/2 cup Maple Syrup

Frosting:
- 1/4 cup Coconut Oil
- 1/4 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
- 1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1/4 cup Honey
- 1/4 cup Chopped Almonds




DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine peanut butter (or almond if that's what you chose), eggs, cocoa powder, baking powder, zucchini and maple syrup in bowl, and beat on medium speed until well combined.  If you choose to use a powdered sweetener the batter will be on the thick side. If you used maple syrup, it will definitely be thinner in consistency.
3. Place batter into 13 x 9 greased (or parchment lined) pan. Spread the mixture around to make it even throughout the pan.
4. Place in over at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until center is cooked through.  Remove from the oven and let cool.
5. While the brownies are cooling, put coconut oil, almond milk, and cocoa powder in a microwave safe bowl.  Place in microwave and cook for 1-2 minutes, or until coconut oil is melted.  Remove from microwave and add the honey to the bowl.  Whisk well, until all ingredients are combined.  Add chopped almonds and mix well.
6. When brownies have completely cooled, pour frosting over the top and allow to set.
7.  Enjoy!

All of these ingredients are all whole, there is no refined flour and every sweetener is natural.  This is not to say that they do not contain a decent amount of sugar, but as long as you don't overindulge, you're getting your sweets fix and getting awesome super foods like coconut oil, zucchini, peanut butter and cocoa.  Dr. Charo's recipe has a little less sugar than mine, but she claims that her version has 89 calories, 8g of fat, 3g of carbs and 6 g of protein per brownie with 15 total brownies.  I cut mine into 18, and didn't factor in the additional sugar here, but it's certainly not a lot higher than what she posts (as long as you don't eat the whole pan).