Put the oven on 350°F (175°C) and place parchment paper into an 8x8-inch pan. Don't omit the

parchment—believe me, cleaning up afterwards is annoying enough already.

Start by whisking the wet ingredients. Mix the mashed banana (or applesauce), the honey, the

melted coconut oil, the eggs, and the vanilla together in a single bowl until the mixture becomes

smooth and shiny.

Add the dry ingredients, which are almond flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Mix them

in until they are just combined. This is the only point at which I would advise you to stop stirring

when the mixture looks even; overmixing is what causes brownies to become dense and tough.

Add the chocolate chips, setting aside a small amount to sprinkle on top before baking. It's just

for appearance, but it does make a difference.

Pour it into the pan and use a spatula to roughly level the surface — it doesn't have to be perfect.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. About when the 20 minutes have been reached, begin checking the

cake with a toothpick — you should see a few moist crumbs on it, not wet batter, but it should not

be clean either.

Allow them to cool in the pan before cutting. Although it's tempting to cut them straight away,

brownies continue to set as they cool, and if you cut them too early you'll end up with a crumbly

mess rather than neat squares.

● Take them out when they are slightly underdone because it seems wrong to me, but that is

precisely what ensures that they remain fudgy rather than cakey.

● The more speckled and browner your banana appears, the better it is – avoid using one that is

only just ripe since it won't sweeten the mixture properly.

● If you want to wait, cool the pan for 20 minutes before making the cuts; this will give you much

cleaner slices and result in squares that have a bakery-style texture rather than a crumbly one.

● If you'd like it a bit more indulgent, add a further egg yolk or an extra spoonful of nut butter. It's a

minor alteration, but the difference is noticeable.

Easy Substitutions

This recipe is flexible, which makes it easy to adapt to different diets:

● Vegan: Use flax eggs instead of eggs. Mix 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons

water for each egg.

● Nut-free: Instead of using almond flour, use oat flour, and rather than using nut butter, use

sunflower seed butter.

● Lower sugar: Reduce the amount of honey to one quarter of a cup and add a few drops of liquid

stevia to even out the sweetness.

● Extra protein: Stir in a scoop of unflavoured or chocolate protein powder and add 1 to 2

tablespoons of milk so that the batter remains moist.