Creative Nature Chia & Cacao Brownie Mix (ASDA)

Last month I reviewed Creative Nature's Superfood bars, and promised that I would let you all know how I got on with their brownie mix. Now I've been craving brownies for a while, but for me brownies must be cooked on the outside but soft and gooey in the middle, and so supermarket versions just don't cut the mustard. I could bake my own, but a mix that you just add eggs and milk too sounded far easier. The trouble is, most baking mixes are pretty pants (I'm thinking Betty Crocker here), but I kept in mind that Creative Nature's bars had been good. There was other factor that was worrying me, but it might sound a little odd: brownies are so tasty because they're so unhealthy. Could an organic, gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free, soya-free, coconut-free, sweetener-free, nut-free, 'superfood' mix really scratch my brownie itch? There was only one way to find out...

Well, kind of. I might've added Cadbury Mini Eggs. It was the Easter Weekend after all.

The instructions called for:

1) 400g Brownie Mix (the whole bag)
2) 4 large eggs (or 5tbsp chia seeds + 15 tbsp water for vegan recipe, which is on the pack)
3) 200g butter (or dairy free spread for vegan recipe)
4) 5ml vanilla essence

I whisked the ingredients together before adding the batter to 2 lined loaf tins, which I then topped with the Mini Eggs and baked for 25ish minutes. The whole process from opening the mix to warm brownies took less than half an hour, and as a bonus my house smelt like Willy Wonka's factory. Marvellous. 

The bag suggests that the entire 400g bag makes 20 servings, but I used half (plus the whole bag of Mini Eggs) and cut my brownies into 8 bars. They were certainly squidgy! Creative Nature suggest chilling them in the fridge, but I have zero patience when it comes to food and so enjoyed my first one straight from the oven with a side of Oppo's salted caramel ice cream.

Oh. my. frigging. days. They were divine; gorgeously rich, with a dark bitter-sweet flavour. Once cool they were just as good, and dare I say it, they didn't really even need the Mini Eggs. Mmm. I'm salivating again just thinking about them.

In fact they were so good that I almost didn't share my brownies with any of my family, but I had promised my sister some, so I took one each for her and her partner on Saturday. Except her partner never got one, my sister ate them both (it's ok, he always nabs her chocolate supplies) and she even blamed me for getting her 'back into brownies'. The cheek! 😉 

It's needless to say, if you are a chocoholic who wants a healthy-ish brownie hit without the faff of baking/ you're intolerant to wheat, dairy, or nuts/ you're vegan, then you must try Creative Nature's Brownie Mix. It's available to buy directly from them online, bigger ASDA stores and Ocado. A little birdie told me that it'll soon be stocked in Sainsbury's too, so keep your eyes peeled! 

9/10