Brownie Skillet

Following an elimination diet like The Myers Way® or another AIP protocol might have you feeling your menu options are limited. Let me reassure you that you can still indulge in some tasty desserts! This Skillet Brownie recipe is a perfect example of how you can enjoy a sweet treat while still repairing your gut and lowering inflammation. 

These AIP brownies closely adhere to the strict guidelines in The Myers Way® and other autoimmune protocol (AIP) diets. Remember, AIP is a type of elimination diet that aims to reduce your autoimmune systems by removing inflammatory and toxic foods from the body. As you heal, it becomes a lifestyle that empowers you to enjoy better health!

If you’ve never made a skillet brownie, you’re going to love this fun way of baking brownies. Instead of baking brownies in a square pan, you bake them in a round cast-iron skillet. It’s healthier due to the gluten-free flour mix and unrefined sugars. It’s so good served warm with Raspberry Collagen Ice Cream!

To serve skillet brownies, you will slice them into wedges instead of squares. 

Before dishing them out, allow them to cool for just a few minutes. Serve them warm, preferably with a scoop or AIP dairy-free ice cream on top. If you cannot find dairy-free, AIP friendly ice cream in stores, you can easily make some following this recipe for Raspberry Collagen Ice Cream. Chocolate and raspberry already go great together, and now you can enjoy beautiful skin and hair knowing you’re getting an extra boost of collagen protein.

As for the topping, drizzle the whole thing with an easy AIP chocolate sauce. What a delicious way to celebrate the day!

For this recipe, you can use an 8-inch, 10-inch, or 12-inch skillet to bake the brownies. The larger your skillet, the thinner your brownies will be and the quicker the brownies will bake. For example, these brownies only needed about 18 minutes of baking time in a 12-inch skillet, but might need as much as 22-25 minutes in an 8-inch skillet.

Gluten Free Brownies

This skillet brownie uses a combination of gluten-free flours: tigernut flour, cassava flour, and tapioca starch. The combination of these three flours makes for a great chewy brownie texture while keeping this AIP dessert gluten-free. 

Cassava flour helps reduce inflammation and makes us feel satisfied thanks to resistant starch. It also helps feed the “good” bacteria in the gut. Tigernut flour is also a good source of fiber and vitamin E. The type of fiber found in tigernuts is insoluble fiber, which helps food move through the digestive system easily. 

The brownies are chewy and moist thanks to a cup of sustainably sourced palm shortening. Palm shortening is a great replacement for butter, and it keeps the skillet brownie completely dairy-free. Palm oil is high in Vitamin E and contains nearly equal amounts of unsaturated and saturated fats for a healthy balance of essential nutrients. If you don’t have palm shortening on hand, you can use a cup of coconut oil for this recipe.

This skillet brownie is sweetened with maple syrup, which is a great unrefined sweetener that makes delicious desserts! Maple syrup is full of B vitamins, vitamin C, iron, calcium, and potassium. Note that you can remove this ingredient if following an elimination diet.

I made these brownies with raw cacao powder, which contains a host of nutrients. Cacao contains antioxidants, magnesium, calcium, thiamin, riboflavin, and sulfur. These nutrients and phytochemicals help improve heart function and lower “bad” LDL cholesterol. They may also help reduce the risk of cancer. If you cannot have cacao, then substitute equal amounts of carob powder to give these brownies a rich brown color and chocolatey flavor.

Protein Brownies

Following The Myers Way® or other elimination diets, may give you the impression that you’ll have to avoid everything you enjoy. Nothing could be further from the truth! You can alter and tweak the foods you love to fit this protocol. This means you can still indulge in sweet treats while helping your body heal!

One of the things to keep in mind when transitioning over to healthier options is to include more protein in your diet. Even desserts can be healthier when you add a scoop of protein powder. My Double Chocolate Paleo Protein adds a delicious protein punch to any recipe, especially brownies. Gluten, dairy, and sugar-free, this protein powder helps stabilize your blood sugar while keeping hunger pangs at bay. Made with non-GMO, hydrolyzed, grass-fed beef protein, you get the best of both worlds in both taste and texture.

How To Make Skillet Brownie

Making the brownies is really easy! You’ll mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl and all the wet ingredients in another bowl. Combine the dry with the wet ingredients and stir well. Transfer to a cast iron pan and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. I like to line the bottom of the skillet with a round-shaped piece of parchment paper to make sure that the brownies do not stick.

As the brownies cool down for a few minutes after baking, they should pull away from the sides of the pan a little. This makes it incredibly easy to slice and serve.

You can top the whole skillet brownie with a few scoops of ice cream, or slice into wedges and let everyone add ice cream to their own plate. Don’t forget the chocolate sauce drizzle!

AIP Friendly Chocolate Sauce Recipe

I make a dreamy AIP friendly chocolate sauce from just 3 ingredients: ¼ cup cacao powder (or carob powder), ½ cup coconut milk, and 1 cup coconut sugar. Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until the sugar melts. Continue to cook for 10 minutes, or until the sauce thickens into a syrup. Drizzle the sauce over the skillet brownie, and keep any remaining sauce in a jar in the fridge. It will last for weeks, and you can use it over parfaits or ice cream!

Skillet Brownie Pairings

Looking for other delectable desserts to add to your list? Chocolate truffles are a romantic and easy pick made with AIP friendly ingredients. Swap out the inflammatory processed sugar for dates, coconut cream, a healthy dose of Reds superfoods, and cacao powder!

What if you want to pair this with something that gives you a little more flavor variety? My Gluten Free Strawberry Yogurt Parfait is an excellent choice. To make it fully compliant with The Myers Way®, you can simply omit the honey. This recipe combines AIP brownie bites with fresh strawberries, coconut yogurt, and of course the “chocolate” sauce.