I’ve been on my health grind for about a week and half now. Waking up at 5am to hit the gym before work has never felt so awesome (it honestly does). I now know the meaning of “rise and grind”. When you are starting your day when it is practically still night outside, you know you must be losing your sanity.

I’ve been finding that I am slowly losing that night time craving for chocolate and sweets. I now go for fruit and honey, or a dessert tea. I have established and recognized my full blown obsession with Davids Tea.

For this treat, I combined two beloved staples in the dessert world. A chocolate brownie, and a coconut macaroon. Why not layer the two? You can so have coconut in the winter. Don’t believe anyone who says summer staples can’t happen in the winter. Ever.

For the brownie base:
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup all purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 9″ square baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving an overhang. Spray foil (with the exception of the overhang) with non stick cooking spray.
2. Melt butter. Add sugar and salt, and whisk to combine. Whisk in the egg, cocoa and flour until smooth. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 10 – 15 minutes until the brownie starts to pull away from the sides. Do not ovebake. Let cool slightly while preparing coconut layer.

For coconut layer:
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
7 oz sweetened, shredded coconut (keep 1/2 cup separate from the rest)

1. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs with sugar and vanilla. Gently mix in the flour and coconut (do not add the 1/2 cup coconut). The mixture will be very stiff.
2. Drop in mounds over chocolate base, wet fingers and press the mixture evenly over the top. Sprinkle with the reserved 1/2 cup coconut. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes. Cool completely in the pan. Remove from pan, remove foil and cut into 24 pieces.

*I like the small bite sized pieces. If you want to cut the squares larger (like 16), feel free.

On a side note, last night a friend (who is gluten free, can’t eat grains and various meats) and I made paleo acorn squash. It was freakin’ delicious. Here is a photo for your mouth watering pleasure.

Anyone who regularly follows the paleo diet: how is it working out for you? Do you like it? Do you find it difficult? Let me know!