Nutrition: "Recovery" Brownies

When you finish a long ride or a race sometimes you need a bit of a treat to get the blood sugar levels back up and reward yourself. These brownies definitely satisfy that need, and they also have a few added ingredients that are useful to cyclists.

Walnuts and Brazil Nuts:
I've mentioned about nuts in previous nutritional blog posts; they are a great source of protein and low-saturate calories to replace those lost during a long-ride.
However, walnuts and brazil nuts may have added benefits to cyclists:

• Whole walnuts contain the rare gamma-tocopherol form of Vitamin E found which provides significant protection from heart problems. Also, the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant phyto-nutrients in the nuts have shown decreased risks of certain cancers including prostate cancer.   
• Brazil nuts are particularly good, because similar to eggs, they are a "complete" source of protein, due to their high selenium content. This means that unlike many other proteins found in plant produce, brazil nuts have a complete range of amino acids to enable growth and muscular recovery, vital after a long ride!
• Both nuts also contain high levels of Omega 3 fatty acids - beneficial to lowering cholesterol levels

Nuts can be a bit boring though, so here is my custom brownies recipe to make that handful of nuts a bit more appealing:

Makes 12: Ingredients: 100g Dark Chocolate Powder, 125g Butter, 200g Caster Sugar, 75g Plain Flour, 2 eggs, 1 Handful of Chopped Brazil Nuts, 1 Handful of Chopped Walnuts, 1 Handful of Raisins/Sultanas

Method: Melt butter over a low heat. Add the chocolate powder and whisk until melted. In a bowl, beat together eggs and sugar, then stir in the melted chocolate. Sieve in the plain flour and add the nuts and raisins, and beat until smooth. Pour the mixture into a lined, 9 inch square tin.
Bake in the oven on 180'C for 20-25mins
Leave to cool fully after removing from oven, and store in the fridge (especially when it's hot)

Warning: From experience, these do not travel well in a jersey pocket - they melt...big time! Have them as an after-ride treat!

Enjoy!