Star Spangled Brownies

     Brownies are a stand alone, stand up, stand out dessert...BUT, whip them into star shapes and they totally steal the show.  These Patriotic wonders will add an extra element of celebration to any gathering.  Each of these 12 servings are only 170 calories, 19.6g carbs, 16g fiber, 3.6g net carbs, 7g protein, 15g fat for one Brownie and one Tablespoon Frosting.  (Note: unable to give exact macros for star shapes.  An alternate suggestion is to pipe decorative star shapes on the brownie square if you need exact macros.)  However you show love on Americas birthday, just make sure it includes Brownies with a splash of color in one form or other!

Ingredients for 12 Frosted Brownies~
1/4 cup Coconut Oil, melted
1/4 cup Oats, ground to powder
1/4 cup ground Flax Seed
1/4 cup Almond Flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Cocoa
1/2 cup/4oz unsweetened Applesauce
3 Extra Large Eggs
1 small (approx. 3oz pulp) ripe Avocado
1/2 cup Lakanto Golden Monk Fruit
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Lite Salt
Dash Cinnamon
Dash Vanilla
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6 Tablespoons Butter, softened to room temperature
6oz Cream Cheese, softened to room temperature
4 scoops Vital Proteins unflavored Collagen Peptides (optional)
1/2 cup Lakanto Confectioners Monk Fruit
Dash Butter Extract
Dash Vanilla Extract
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Food Coloring as desired

     Beat together first set of ingredients with mixer til thoroughly combined, pour into parchment lined 9X13 and bake at 375 for 15-17 minutes, remove and cool.  Meanwhile, whip second set of ingredients with mixer til fluffy, remove 3 Tablespoons and 2 tablespoons, color one with red and one with blue.  Decorate all 12 servings as desired, OR stamp out as many star shapes as possible and decorate as desired.  Note: 1) if you are using Red, White and Blue then you will use one teaspoon of each per Brownie for the Tablespoon macros.  2) the Frosting makes 1 1/4 cups, store leftover in fridge.  Easiest way to decorate stamped out stars is to frost entire pan, set in freezer for 15-30 minutes, THEN stamp out stars, I got 8 out of my batch.  Also, I piped the red perimeter and THEN piped the stripes.  I used scraps to make Patriotic Brownie Truffles(https://foodfitnessbypaige.blogspot.com/2019/06/patriotic-brownie-truffles.html).  Enjoy  :)