Whole wheat Olive oil brownies with Cacao Nibs

A chocolate brownie with the fruity flavour of extra virgin olive oil combined with goodness of whole wheat is all you need to indulge in a guiltless eating spree. I just loved the smell and taste of olive oil in these brownies and convinced myself that it is okay to eat about 3 pieces since it is not unhealthy!! The cacao nibs soft on the outside still retained a bit crunch which kind of takes you by surprise in every bite.  I checked a couple of sites for the basic recipe and finally settled for Deeba's recipe with a few modifications to make it healthier.

Ingredients
115 g dark chocolate (70% cacao). I used Ghiradelli 60% dark chocolate
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar (gur sakhar)
1/2 cup caster sugar/ raw sugar
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder (optional)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup toasted halved hazelnuts
2 tsp cacao nibs (optional)

Method

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Add the olive oil and stir to mix well. Keep aside. Place both the sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Add one egg at a time and beat it till light and fluffy. Beat the warm chocolate mix in eggs. Sift the both flour, salt and cocoa. Fold in the sifted flour in the wet mix with a spatula. Gently fold in the hazelnuts.

Preheat oven to 180C. Pour the batter into an 8x8 square pan lined with parchment paper. Top with the cacao nibs. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 25-30 mins or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out with a few crumbs sticking to it.

Remove from oven and allow to cool before cutting it. Serve plain and if you do not mind some extra calories with a dollop of chocolate icecream :-)